infinity:infinity
by division-ten
Summary: Post KH3, spoilers ahoy. He got off the pavement, wet, dirty and alone. (ensemble fic dealing with the aftermath of KH3's Secret Ending, featuring multiple new Disney worlds)
1. pre-pregaming

Sora shook himself off, checking his hands. He'd just been sitting with Kairi not a moment ago before he felt himself fading from existence.

He'd abused the power of waking to find her, and had been at peace for paying the price, but… well. Maybe he hadn't just died like he thought. And this wasn't the Final World, either. Far from it, he had his form, and could definitely feel. He scuffed a shoe on the pavement, taking stock of the world around him.

Neon signs, tall buildings, concrete. Less Traverse and far more Fransokyo or even The Wortld that Never Was.

Scratch that, way more the Nobody's home base than San Fran. There was no sign of water, and far more neon.

Sora frowned. He couldn't read a single sign on any billboard or shop. That never happened before. Donald had told him that in the days of Faerie Tales, the worlds were united as one, so they all shared the same language, too. And after they drifted apart, fragmented, that didn't change. Certain worlds had dialects, or slang, or accents, certainly, but they all still shared the same spoken and written language.

That wasn't the case here.

Sora walked, feeling a sharp chill. His clothes were wet and dirty, and he wasn't carrying very much in the way of munny, either. He overheard group of girls, maybe his age, in matching uniforms chatting. They looked like the clothes he had to wear back at school on Destiny Islands, or Kairi's school uniform at least. The boy's uniform was shorts to combat the Destiny Island's perpetual summer.

He didn't want to pry, but he tried to listen to them.

He couldn't understand a word.

One of the girls waved to the other two, and turned to face him… and promptly walked straight through. Sora panicked for a moment, flailing his arms, until something caught the corner of his eye.

He flexed his wrist again, pulling off his gauntlet to get a better look. Simultaneously, he felt both relief and panic.

Relief, because he knew what it was.

And panic for the exact same reason.

* * *

Red symbols were etched on his hand. He'd seen them before, on Neku, and Rhyme, and Shiki. But on them, he could read them as a countdown timer for the game they were forced to play. Here, the marker was the same, but the digits unfamiliar.

Was this world so long separated they had their own language?

At least he had some information, if he could remember what Joshua had told him correctly.

He was dead, he was in this game, and if he won, he'd have his life back. Sora laughed a little. He'd died already, so he just needed to beat this stupid thing and he'd be back to normal.

Which meant the first thing he needed to do was find out who his game partner was.

* * *

Sora had his first lead when he found someone floating above a streetlamp on black, almost lace like wings.

"Heeeeeey!" Sora cried at him. The black winged person- who was in a black hooded sweatshirt with a red kerchief on his face- ignored him. Sora frowned. If the winged people were like him- **dead**\- they could also see the myriad of living people walking and moving around in the city too. He probably didn't even consider he was being hailed.

Sora thought about casting a weak spell, but didn't want to hurt the person, opting to take a small one-munny gem from his pocket, flinging it at the winged boy's thigh. "Heeeeeeey!" he shouted again.

Now the boy noticed Sora, and swooped down.

"Itai-yo!" he cried at Sora, flicking the gem back at him. "Nan-da-ze?"

"Can… you… understand… me?" Sora said slowly, articulating each word. It was hard to judge the boy's response, all covered like that.

"Shimatta… gaijin da," the other boy spat out irritated. Sora took it as a no, and instead just opted to show him his hand.

The boy exhaled, yanking on his hood. "Koko de mattanasai," he said, in an authoritative tone, as he turned and started walking. Sora followed. The boy just sighed louder, grabbed Sora's wrist- **grabbed**, Sora noticed, not **passed through**\- and walked with him until he found a bench. The winged boy pointed at it, and Sora sat.

"Mat-ta-na-sa-i."

"You want me to wait here?" Sora asked, pointing on the bench he was sitting on. "**Wait**? Matty nassy?"

The boy just facepalmed and flew off.

Sora hoped somebody living didn't sit on him.

* * *

Eventually, the hooded boy flew back, with a very nice sight for sore eyes.

Joshua. The blonde flew low and landed on a knee, standing himself up and magically removing the wet stain he got on his knee from the landing.

"Sora?" he asked, confused.

"Joshua!" Sora said excitedly, jumping up and nearly tackling the angel in a hug. The black-winged boy looked like he was about to faint.

"Shiinda to kiita," Joshua said. Sora internally cursed.

"Joshua, I can't understand you."

Joshua peeled Sora off of him, and tilted his head. The boy in black merely cowered behind, visibly worried about something.

Joshua snapped his fingers, pointed at Sora, and made an open and close gesture with his hand.

"You… want me to keep talking?"

Joshua smiled, and rolled his wrist, which Sora assumed meant 'keep going'.

"Like how I got here? Because I can't tell you very much, other than I was sitting on a paopu tree with Kairi, um, she's a good friend of mine and…"

"Okay, I think I've got it again," Joshua replied. "Do you want to understand Japanese, too?"

Sora never felt so relieved. "Is that what everyone's speaking?"

Joshua nodded.

"Then, yes. **Please**."

Joshua flicked his forehead with a slender finger, and a lifetime of language filled Sora's head. It felt a little like when Roxas shoved his memories in him, minus the emotional strain.

"Hey, Komaeda, say something," Joshua said with a slight smirk.

"Er, yes, boss, what?"

"And?" Joshua asked, looking at Sora.

"I can understand him now," Sora said.

"And you're speaking Japanese. Thank God," the boy in black- Komadea- said. "So I'm not in trouble? This kid here's way out of proto-"

"He's my responsibility, Komaeda. He shouldn't even **be**here."

"America's got its own purgatory, I hate it when people die on vacation, especially otaku cosplayers," Komaeda muttered. "Sending him home?"

"Excuse me," Sora whined. "I'm right here. And what's an **America**?"

Joshua sighed. "Komaeda, scoot. I'll sort this out."

"It's almost midnight and he doesn't even have his game partner, though. Won't he run out of time?" Komaeda asked, with genuine worry. "And have you paid your entry fee?"

Joshua paled, and grabbed for Sora's wrist. "Right, you did say he was dead… oh. Huh. Komaeda, you saw this too, right?"

"Uh, yeah, he showed it to me."

"Please tell me you've passed middle school math."

"I was run over by a car when I was ten, Joshua."

"Oh," Joshua said, softly. "Forgive me. Don't worry, though. Sora's not going to fade out at midnight." He lifted up Sora's hand so all three could see, and now Sora understood the symbol on the timer.

His timer wasn't time at all; it merely read ∞:∞.

* * *

"Well, first's first." Joshua said, sighing. "You're dead and in the Game, but with your timer like that… I don't know. I've never seen anyone given infinite time before." Sora and Joshua walked down the street together, to who-knew-where. Sora causally noticed that people were walking through him, but around Joshua.

"Are you alive? People are avoiding bumping into you," Sora said.

"Observant, but no. I've never been alive. The guys and girls in black were, once, they chose to be Reapers instead of reincarnating. Black wings are reapers, white ones like me are angels. Though most people higher up would be having my head right now for exposing all this. The living humans just see a normal teenager, no wings. Muttering to himself, or, thankfully," he added, putting his arm down, revealing something similar to Sora's gummiphone, "modern technology lets me talk to you without looking like I'm crazy."

"Have your head?"

"The big man upstairs doesn't really like people knowing exactly how this whole business works. You get a pass because you're not from here. Heck, to some of my own rank, they'd probably consider you a god. The bigger question now, is, what to do with you? First, let's get you out of those soaking clothes. Food, too, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah."

Sora followed Joshua through city streets, before Joshua froze.

"Wait. I knew something was weird. I never put my finger on it."

"What?"

"**That**," Joshua said, flatly, pointing at a store display. Sora stepped closer. Video games! He peered in the closed shop, looking at the rows of merchandise, before letting his eyes trail to the window.

"Is… no. That's **me**."

"Komaeda's 'otaku cosplayer' reminded me. I guess, tomorrow, I'll go buy you a game console. Maybe it has some hints about what to do."

Sora looked at the display, at the cartoon of his face grinning on a throne with a crown.

"I… hope so."

* * *

"Joshua, are you nuts?" A woman with blindingly red hair downing wine straight from a bottle asked as he trudged into a Shibuya penthouse apartment. "Arches only in here. Upper management orders."

Joshua held up Sora's timer- marked hand first, and a paper ad second.

"Sora, Uriel, Uriel, Sora. Sora's from another universe. He gets exemptions."

Uriel stared at Sora with sharp golden eyes. "**That **Sora?"

"That Sora."

Uriel huffed. "Whatever, fine. Just give him some normal clothes or something. We have one otaku in this house already. I don't need more cosplayers here."

"Cosplayer?" Sora asked confused.

"People are going to think you're dressed up as that game character."

"But these are my clothes!"

"Yes, and in this world, you're a game character," Joshua huffed. "Uri, do we have any leftovers?"

"Just go to the FamilyMart and get something. And a bottle of peach chuhai for me."

"My ID says 17, Uri."

Uriel stood up. "Whatever. I'll go too. Sora, you want booze?"

Sora blushed a little. "Um, no, pass. Just a hot shower and food, please."

"Missing out," Uri replied with a wave of her hand. "Only good thing about being on planet, if you ask me."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Bath is the last door on the left down that hall. And Gabriel's in, she said she's happy to share her room with you."

"**Her**?" Sora asked, blushing further.

"None of us exactly have… er, parts, like mortals do, being male or female is just out of convenience," Joshua replied with a shrug. "If you feel better bunking with me, I don't care, but I don't exactly have a lot of floor space."

Sora shook his head. "That's fine, I'm already imposing."

"You know Gabe just wants Sora because **reasons**," Uriel muttered, stretching her wings and opening the apartment door.

"Yes," Joshua replied, grabbing something from a cupboard. "And that's why it's a good-"

Music blared from Joshua's pocket. "Komaeda… oh. Wait. A Riku cosplayer? Under the pedestrian bridge? Yeah, I'm flying there now. Just keep him calm. Actually…"

Joshua passed Sora the phone. "Looks like you've got a friend."

* * *

"Is anyone getting sleep tonight?" Uriel asked, taking another swig from her bottle of cheap highball.

Gabriel, a short, black haired girl with sharp bangs and an oversized T-Shirt with a game logo on it, grinned toothily at Sora and Riku, sitting at the kotatsu inhaling convenience-store fried chicken and oden, both in whatever clean clothes the other angels had that would fit them.

Riku also had an infinity timer on his hand, matching Sora's exactly.

"Doubt it," Riku said between mouthfuls. "Though I'm exhausted."

"Regular dead shouldn't be tired," Gabriel commented, almost drooling sitting between the two of them. She snatched a bun from the communal pile of sweets and began munching.

"I'm not even sure they're actually dead," Uriel said, sliding her bottle into the slowly growing pile of recyclables. "From what you all have explained, it might just be how their magic makes them perceived in this world. If they didn't have timers, they'd just wander Tokyo, unable to talk to anyone, read, or even buy shit."

Joshua nodded. "I spoke with the higher ups."

"Tattle tale," Gabriel whined.

"Call me a snitch all you want," Joshua muttered, uncapping a bottle of alcohol for himself. "I just want to make sure they can get home. Both Sora and Riku helped restore our world by waking it, I'd say even the top brass owes them for that."

"Wait… does that really mean our world is part of Kingdom Hearts?" Gabriel asked.

The rest of the table stared at her.

"Um, duh, the game," she clarified, waving her hands around. "I mean, it's in the secret ending, too. Sora wakes up, and, like, the graphics are hyper-realistic, and walks through Tokyo, and so does Riku, and the 104 building is there, and…"

"Back up," Uriel said sharply. "This happens in the game?"

"Um yeah, it's the super secret ending, you need to earn it by taking pictures of Mickey emblems and-"

"King Mickey?" Sora and Riku asked.

Gabriel held up a finger, swiped another bun, and grinned. "**Step into my office**."

* * *

Gabriel's 'office' was a high-tech room, with a TV as big as a wall. She spun in an expensive looking swivel chair, and motioned to her closet. "Grab some futons, you're crashing in here anyway."

She grinned, booting up her PS4. A cartoon image of Aqua stared back at them. Sora and Riku just stared at it. "I got this for finishing A Fragmentary Passage!" she cheered, as if that meant anything to anyone but her. "Killjoys," she muttered., pressing a button on the device. A disc labeled Biohazard 2 popped out and she searched a shelf for a row of cases, putting it back and popping in Kingdom Hearts.

"Do we have to play through this whole game for this?" Uriel asked, downing more chuhai, looking annoyed. "Don't these take like eighty hours to finish?"

"Theeeeaaaater moooode," Gabriel piped back. "I can just play any cutscenes I've unlocked. Which, in this case, is **all of them**." Her wings fluttered as she adjusted herself in the chair.

"Lesse, secret movie, Yazora, here we go."

"Wait, Yazora?" Sora asked, before being shushed by the entire room.

Sora and Riku watched the short video in silence.

"So, anything new?" Gabriel asked.

"There's someone in an Organization hood in your city, on a roof, if this is accurate," Riku said dumbstruck.

"Could be a cosplayer, but it's a lead."

"Yazora," Sora said, mouth dry.

"Who?" everyone but Gabriel asked him.

"He's a video game character," Sora stared.

"I mean, duh, that's what your universe is to us," Uriel said, annoyed, flicking her hair back.

"I mean… **in our universe**."

Gabriel saved him. "Yeah, in the Toy Story world. It's a game. Verum Rex. Yazora is the main character."

"I'm pretty good at it, but Buzz kills my high score every time I set a new one," Sora admitted.

"Wait," Joshua said, crossing his arms and pointing. "Your world is a video game in ours, and this person Yazora is in a video game in yours. And if the end of this game is real, that means there's some bad guy and this guy from your universe here?"

"This is making my brain hurt," Sora whimpered.

"I think the answer is yes," Riku said, thoughtfully, staring at the list of cutscenes on the screen.

"Well, then, they're our leads." Uriel said. "But there's only three of us here now. Michael and his crew are handling some issue in Milan. We're not exactly omniscient."

"So?" Gabriel said, cutting the game back to the console menu. "Don't we have a Game round tomorrow?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Joshua smiled. "I'll call the Reapers in the morning. Sounds like tomorrow's challenge is hide-and-seek."


	2. pregaming

**Okay, look. Yall. When a story is listed as complete (or chapters 1 of 1 on AO3) that means its a one shot. So why did over thirty people subscribe to updates between AO3 and Fanfic? You know what? Fine. I'll make a full story.**

**Happy now? :P**

**Also if any of this ends up happening in KH4.3847/infinity re:re:post coded I will eat my hat.**

**Bring it, Nomura.**

* * *

The party on the beach wasn't what Kairi needed.

But **he **was.

When did he get so… broad?

Kairi rubbed his palm with her thumb, and she could feel him shudder under her touch. Too easy. She saw Sora blush, and he moved, slowly, gently, as if to let her say no at any point as he moved from holding hands to curving his left arm around her back, resting that hand on her waist, linking his thumb to her belt loop.

She didn't say no.

"I knew you'd find me, Sora," she whispered.

He dodged a Frisbee, and the two of them walked past their friends for the paopu tree. There would be plenty of time to talk with everyone else later.

Roxas and Ventus both gave Sora a sly nod as he passed.

Sora curled around Kairi as they sat. She enjoyed his weight, his presence, his scent.

Until she started noticing it being replaced by the smell of wet pavement and… fried noodles? She looked up to glimpse at Sora, only to watch him stare through her, all but an afterimage himself.

And then, he was gone.

Kairi screamed.

* * *

The party froze, like they were hit with Stop all at once.

It was Lea who broke the silence. "Kairi!" he shouted. "W-wait. Where is Sora?!" he added, running toward her.

"He's… gone…" she said still staring at the space where he'd just been, reaching out and grabbing air.

"Gone?" he asked, hoarse.

"I… still feel him, he's still connected. But yes, gone…"

Lea put on a goofy grin for her. "If you feel him, he's fine. You told me you turned him back from being a heartless, right? Maybe some other planet summoned him. He's got his phone, right? Text him."

Kairi put her hand down, and exhaled. "I.. I didn't even… why are you so calm?!"

"Because I can't do anything about what just happened. But I can try and go after him. Do you have any-"

Lea didn't even finish his sentence as there was another scream from the beach. He didn't even ask permission, just slung Kairi on his shoulder and ran back to the others.

Riku was starting to vanish.

"Talk. Now," Lea demanded, trying to grab his hand with his free one. It passed right though. He started fumbling with his cell phone, instead.

"Um… I…" Riku stared.

"Focus," Lea said sharply. "We'll come for you but you need to tell us what you can."

Lea smelled wet pavement off Riku, like when it rained in the World that Never Was.

"I see… Riku said, trying to focus as he was disappearing. "Neon. Think World that Never Was or Fransokyo. But I can't read any signs. It's dark. There's electric lights everywhere and ground vehicles. Skyscrapers. And-"

The last flicker of Riku vanished before everyone.

The waves crashed. Lea frowned. Someone's stomach rumbled, breaking the silence.

"Riku smelled like Sora did. Before he disappeared," Kairi said quietly. "Wet pavement and fried noodles."

Aqua clapped her hands, once, loudly.

"All right then. Grillmaster, fire it up and get those fish cooked. Someone make a bonfire. I call this meeting of Rescue the Rescuers to order!"

* * *

Isa had vanished in a corridor of darkness, and returned a few moments later, dragging an irate Vexen, Demyx, and a whiteboard. Lea had set a bonfire alight while Goofy and Hayner quickly started coordinating dinner. Aqua stood, surveying the group before her. There were going to be a lot of worlds to cover, but there were just as many people before her. And they didn't have to go everywhere- it was time to start narrowing the search.

* * *

"Everyone cozy?" she asked, to a mixture of nods and grunts as the group dug into grilled fish and island vegetables. "Kairi, you're the only one who saw Sora disappear. I know it probably is going to be painful, but tell us anything you can."

"We were just sitting there, he was leaning on me. It felt lighter first, and then he just looked surprised, and sad," Kairi said slowly. "And he smelled like wet pavement and street food. Fried noodles. Like the kind in San Fransokyo. So did Riku."

"I'd second that. I definitely got a whiff of yaki udon," Lea said, to confused stares. "Noodles fried with vegetables?"

"Who fries noodles?" Pence asked, a bit confused. "Wouldn't they get all gummy in the oil?"

"Griddle fried, not deep fried, ya big dummy," Hayner said, nudging him.

"Order!" Aqua said authoritatively. "Can we make an assumption they both got taken to the same place?"

The group murmured.

"They might not have," Aqua continued. "But we can use what Riku said as a starting point. At the very least, search with him in mind." She tapped at the whiteboard and Isa scribbled Sora and Riku'snames up on top, with the bullet points

-WET PAVEMENT

-FRIED NOODLES?

"What did Riku say?"

Lea took out his phone, and fumbled with it. "Quiet," he ordered, and hit a few more buttons.

"I see… Riku said, from the Gummiphone. "Neon. Think World that Never Was or Fransokyo. But I can't read any signs. It's dark. There's electric lights everywhere and ground vehicles. Skyscrapers. And-"

"I got a recording," Lea said quietly. "Just audio, though."

"Play it again," Aqua ordered, and Isa readied with the marker.

-NEON

-LIKE TWTNW, BUT NOT

-ILLEGIBLE SIGNS

-DARK (NIGHT? PERPETUAL?)

-ELECTRIC LIGHTS

-GROUND TRANSIT (CARS?)

-SKYSCRAPERS

Isa put the marker down.

"Any other assumptions?"

"Well, he'd be in a city, between skyscrapers and pavement," Mickey said, looking at the board. "We're looking at something industrial."

"Radiant Garden level technology, at least," Roxas piped in.

"He didn't mention anything odd about the inhabitants," Naminé said quietly. "Which means they weren't unusual from his point of view. We can rule out places like Monstropolis. He would have mentioned if the people weren't the same species. And we know it's habited. He would have said empty. Probably. If I had only a few moments to describe somewhere I'd talk about what made it look different."

Aqua nodded. Isa added

-PROBABLY HUMANS

-RADIANT LEVEL TECH

"Anything else?" Aqua asked.

Donald frowned. "Riku not being able to read anything bothers me."

"We're all from lots of different worlds but we can all understand one another right?" Olette asked.

"Then this is an Old World," Mickey said, solemnly. "One that split from even before the time of Faerie Tales."

The whole gathering went silent. "An Old World?" Lea asked.

Mickey nodded.

Ventus crossed his arms. "I remember Master Erauqs mention them once. They're the farthest pieces of the original world we were all part of, when it was one whole giant world all bound up. The world shattered because of the original Keyblade War but…"

"A few pieces on the edge broke off on their own," Terra finished for him. "Sealed off from the rest of everything. They say that that's where chocobos come from."

"Mhmmm, when the barriers weakened last time and things got through," Mickey replied. "It's also how we got malboros."

Most of the group winced. The few that didn't knew immediately that whatever one was, it wasn't pleasant.

"So, then," Aqua said, looking back to the board. "Isa, I think there's one more criteria here."

Isa nodded, and in large letters, added one last line.

-TAKEN TO THE OLD WORLDS

* * *

Everyone with a phone was squinting at their screens, frowning.

"Where were chocobos first sported from?" Xion asked aloud. It was like the worlds most dire game of Trivial Pursuit.

"Wonderland!" Ventus said, holding up his device. "Six hundred years ago or so."

"Malboros first spotted in the woods of Corona about three hundred years ago," Roxas added.

Isa was marking waypoints on their board.

"Yaki udon is San Fransokyo food. It's a stretch but there might be a sub portal to an Old World from there," Lea added. Isa marked it down, too.

"Monstropolis has its own direct portals out," Xion added.

"It's worth a shot," Aqua said. "We have the manpower to stretch the net wide, let's think of any possibility."

"Traverse Town," Mickey piped. "When a world falls, it's residents can end up there. That or Radiant Garden or Twilight Town. They're all hodgepodges of other places. They might have portals out, too."

"The Keyblade Graveyard."

"Is the path to Scala ad Caelum open?"

"Halloweentown is directly linked to a whole buncha other worlds, ain't it?"

"The World that Never Was? Land of Departure?"

Aqua whistled loudly. "Okay, this is a good start."

"Destiny Islands," Kairi added quietly. "The Secret Place has a doorway out."

Everyone went silent.

"It's close, but I think Sora or Riku closed the pathway a while back," Kairi added. "Might still be worth the look."

"How close?" Aqua asked.

Kairi pointed to a small crevice in the rocks, and Lea stood up, dusting off sand.

"How about a five minute leg stretch?" he joked.

* * *

As many of them that could huddle in the little cave were, with Kairi in the lead. And there it was, the wooden looking door at the back of their secret little cave.

It was overflowing with an ominous purple aura.

Lea squeaked his way through, but was stopped by Isa.

"Let me," the taller man demanded, and gingerly touched the edge of the warping. His hand began to dissolve, and he snapped it back immediately.

Unlike Sora and Riku, it turned back to a solid immediately.

"Likely culprit?" Lea asked, staring at Isa's hand in shock. "Are you…?"

"I'm totally fine, it didn't even hurt," Isa replied. "It's not darkness, that's for sure. It actually felt… warm. I know my hand disappeared but I think it's safe."

Mickey looked at it incredulously, and demanded to see Isa's hand. So did Donald. The two conferred in hushed whispers a few moments.

"Actually… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Isa is right. It should be safe to pass."

"Want me to stick my head in?" Isa asked.

"No, but you'll do it anyway, won't you?" Lea asked. Isa blushed a little, before turning to the oozing portal.

The top half of him vanished as he leaned; Donald held his leg tightly to ground him.

A few very tense minutes later, and Isa took a step back. Donald pulled, if only to make sure.

Isa blinked, as if he was adjusting to the light.

"That's… well, it's a place, that's for sure."

"What did you see?" Aqua asked sternly.

"Skyscrapers, electric lights, signs I couldn't read, dark," Isa ticked off.

The relief on Kairi's face radiated the whole room, but Isa put up a hand.

"But I also saw people flying with wings. No rain. And it wasn't ground transport. There were definitely flying vehicles too. It might be where they went, but…" Isa shook his head. "We probably want to still split up and check as many of the places we listed as possible."

"And maintain order," Donald added, with an irritated quack. "If the King, Goofy, and I are searching- and we will be- I need to make our curse a bit stronger."

The group shuffled out of the cave and back to the bonfire. Isa added Destiny Islands to his list.

"C-curse?" Pence asked worriedly.

"We have to maintain order. Doubly so if we try going to the Old Worlds. We won't be able to speak their language. If the King or I ended up in one and it's really just humans…"

"We'll stick out like a sore thumb, a'hyuck," Goofy finished for Donald. "Same idea if you're going to Monstropolis and yer a human. You'll scare 'em."

Kairi looked at Donald. "I can't imagine what you'd look like as a human," she said, squinting.

"Me either, Kairi," Goofy said with a chuckle. "And I can't imagine you as a monster."

Donald quacked loudly, silencing the chatter. "Anyone who doesn't have this curse step forward. Actually, I'm making it stronger. I'm cursing us all. Objections?"

Aqua smiled. "I'll help." Donald nodded, and the two looked at each other, took in a deep breath, pushing the air away from them.

"Should do it," Aqua said, with a nod.

"I don't… feel any different," Xion said, flexing her fingers.

"Well, on this world, looking as you are is expected. And I can't control everyone's individual transformations. The world's heart will do it," Aqua added.

Isa looked back at the whiteboard. "So, we have twelve worlds to search. Thirteen with Scala, but let's set that aside for now. We know for a fact Destiny Islands has a portal, and it's a close match. But I don't think that's where Riku is. He would have said **flying **vehicles. There weren't ground cars there. At least none I could see. It's still worth the search though."

"So we need twelve groups," Mickey said. "How are we splitting this?"

Aqua did a quick headcount. "We'll have to split into groups of two at the largest if we want to be efficient. Except…" she said, looking at Hayner, Pence, and Olette. "You three have no magic or combat skills, correct?"

"No, ma'am," Pence said, head low. "None of us can even fly a ship."

"You have one major advantage, though."

"What's that?"

Isa pointed to Twilight Town on the list. "You're natives, right? Search your home. If there's a portal, we'll send someone to you."

"A scavenger hunt?" Olette asked.

"A big one," Aqua said with a smile. "Huge."

The trio's eyes lit up.

"Remember, this is reconnaissance mission. All we're doing is seeing where portals are right now. If you find one, peek in. That's it. We clear? We'll regroup and actually explore once we have an idea."

"So really, we only need ten more groups?" Isa asked. We already know there's one here, and we've got Twilight covered."

Aqua nodded.

"I'll take Radiant Garden," Demyx offered. "I can even try and rope in Dilan or Aeleus."

"You just want Radiant because you won't run into heartless," Vexen said, rolling his no-longer-gold eyes.

"Aaaaand I'm a local," Demyx whined.

"Fine," Aqua said clapping her hands. "The World that Never Was?"

"Xion, wanna go?" Roxas asked. "It has to be someone who can make dark corridors anyway."

"You just want time with your giiiiiirlfriend." It was Demyx's turn to poke fun at someone. Both Roxas and Xion blushed.

"Traverse Town?" Isa asked, changing the subject quickly.

"I can go alone," Mickey said quietly.

"But, Your High-" Donald started, though Goofy shushed him.

"I think he needs some time alone, Donald."

Isa went down the list. "San Fran? Lea, seems like you know the place."

"I also have three warrants for my arrest, nope, no dice," Lea said shrugging. "Axel miiiiight have done some serious property damage three years ago."

Isa winced. "I think I remember that. Okay."

"Ven, Terra, field trip?" Aqua asked. "Our home is small. We can do the Land of Departure in a few hours, and that's if we're slow. And we have Keyblade armor. It's not as fast as using those corridors you Nobodies use, but it's close."

Isa marked the trio for both places.

"I can take Wonderland," Isa said. "I'm on… let's say I'm on good terms with some of the residents. We still have four places. Who feels safe going to the Keyblade Graveyrd?"

"I'll go," Naminé said quietly. "Heartless and Nobodies don't attack me anyway."

"Not alone, you're not," Isa said sternly. "You can't make corridors anyway, can you?"

"May I escort you?" Vexen asked.

Naminé nodded, and Isa crossed another world off the list.

"Donald and I could take any of the three left," Goofy interjected. "We've been to all of them, and we have a vessel."

"I have no preference, but I think Kairi and I should go together," Lea said, looking at the remaining choices. "She can't fly a ship or make corridors. I can't fly but I still can make them safely."

"We're still short a team," Isa said, scanning the group. "Anyone not accounted for?"

Roxas and Xion looked at each other. "We can split up," Xion said quietly.

"Not if you're going to the World that Never Was," Isa said, boring a hole in her forehead with his stare. "It's huge and dangerous. You two stay together."

"I'll go somewhere else," Demyx said with a sigh. "I'll call Ienzo and have the locals search. Leon's team owes me."

"Done. So who goes where?"

"Monstropolis is the safest," Goofy supplied. "There's no Heartless there. And with… with the end of Vanitas… the Unversed should be all gone. It's just a lot of portals."

"Millions of them!" Donald piped.

"No fighting but a million places to look?" Demyx asked, frowning. "The other two places?"

"Corona's city is safe too," Goofy said, thoughtfully. "But the forests have weak heartless and some Nobodies."

"Are there Nobodies in Halloweentown?" Demyx asked.

"Gawrsh, none I can remember," Goofy admitted.

"I'll take Corona," Demyx said with a wave of his hand. "I can make them beat stuff up for me."

"Then we have Halloweentown," Donald insisted. "Kairi, you have a bond with Sora. Maybe that'll make it easier to search all the portals."

Kairi frowned. She wasn't even getting to fight? **Again**? But Lea just smiled, poking her in the ribs.

"I'll take photos for Sora when we get there," he said with a grin. "I'm sure he'll love to see what you look like as a little monster."

* * *

Bellies full, the groups began to split up.

"Where's our meeting place?" Roxas asked. "Somewhere we can all sit together."

"Ansem'll let us use his castle," Demyx said, sliding his phone in his coat. "He's also set up a search party in Radiant Garden. When you're done searching your locations, go there."

Hayner crossed his arms.

"I'll get someone from Radiant to pick up you three pipsqueaks," he added with a sigh. "But you'd better come back having turned over every paving stone in the city."

Lea glared at Demyx. "Myde, you sure you don't want me to kill you? Even, you?"

There was a mix of gasps and laughter, from the people who understood the implications and not.

"You joking? I'm not gambling on wether I get to keep these powers. If I lose 'em like Dilan or Ienzo, I'll have to actually learn to **pilot a ship**. **No ****thanks**. I'm no Luxord, I'm not gambling on keeping my sweet lazy powers like you and Isa did."

"I can't say I had much of a heart as a human, Lea," Vexen added with a slight nod. "But like this, I can actually do some good for once. Speaking of Luxord…"

"His Somebody hasn't been found yet," Demyx said with a sigh. "And honestly… he might never be. He's like me. Our Somebodies were eaten by Heartless in the Keyblade War. He might have awoken not just **in **the Keyblade Graveyard, but **during **or **after **the fight. Lemme know if you find him there?"

Vexen just blinked. "How… old are you, exactly?"

Demyx shrugged, summoned his sitar, and strummed it, crowd-surfing into his corridor of darkness to Corona.

* * *

Kairi laughed uncontrollably, and her whole body shook.

"You're a sentient blob of pink gelatin…" Lea said, staring at what had been a normal human teenager not one moment earlier. Lea wasn't wrong, Kairi was a gelatinous, semi-translucent pink monster with four tentacle like legs and squishy, blobby arms with three fingers on each hand. She had tentacles in a short cropped bob, just like her hair should have been, if it wasn't like gummy worms. She was still wearing her pink coat over the form, and Lea wasn't sure if it tied it all together or just increased the hilarity. Kairi slowly adjusted to her new appendages, and quickly figured out how to make lazy loops around her companion, to get a good long look.

"I'm not laughing because of me," she said. "I'm laughing because of **you**."

Lea adjusted. The first thing he noticed was the tail, long, muscular, and helping him balance on his thin-twig legs. He only retained his black duster, the rest of his own clothes missing.

"I feel very, **very **exposed," he admitted. "Your coat at least covers…"

"Covers what?" Kairi asked, head tilting. "My lower half is an octopus. You've got fur, and…" she added, looking left and right at the pleasant tree-lined street and random pedestrians of every shape, size and color, "it looks like the concept of clothes is at best optional here."

"When on Mt. Olympus," Lea said, shaking his head and feeling a head's nest worth of large quills shake with him, "wear a toga?"

Kairi smiled, and flipped out her phone, grabbing a selfie of both of them.

"My eyes are like… dinner plates," Lea laughed, looking at his reflection. "**Huge**. At least I have these porcupine quills I can use if anyone rubs me the wrong way. Literally."

Both of them giggled a little at that, and Lea fished around in his duster for the piece of cardstock Donald had provided.

"First stop, Monsters Inc."

* * *

Lea stepped up to the pedestrian gate of the energy company to a bored looking security guard, Kairi right behind.

"'Scuse us," she said in her Polite Talking to Adults voice. "We're associates of Sora, Donald and Goofy Exterminators. We needed to speak to the CEO."

The security guard rolled a claw. "Yeah, everyone needs to speak to the CEO. Get in line."

"Ma'am," Kairi added, hoping she picked the correct pronoun. "We have a signed note from Mister Sullivan himself to come back anytime."

Thank goodness Jiminy Cricket kept every scrap of paper he'd even gotten. The guard snatched the small handwritten note Sully had once written for Sora, and scrutinized it, before picking up the little corded telephone in her booth, and slamming her window shut.

"**Associates**," Lea whispered in what he assumed was probably vaguely the direction of where an ear should be. "You sounded like a right professional there."

Kairi giggled quietly.

"You know, we should get you a giant whipped cream hat with a strawberry," he joked. "Then Sora could have himself a snack."

"Lea!" she cried. She wasn't sure when she and he had gotten on such chummy terms, but she admittedly liked the gentle teasing. It was better than when he'd first met her as a Somebody- awkward, and perpetually apologetic. Now, at least, he wasn't treating her like she was made of stained glass.

"Aaaaaand now your jello face went from strawberry champagne to cherry," he added, elbowing her.

She made a surprising **slorp **as her body quite literally rolled with the punch.

"Punch," he whispered. "You're fruit punch!"

"Lea, quit it or I'll shave y-"

The security window slammed open with a thud, as the lady handed back Kairi's paper. "An escort is coming. Please wait."

* * *

"Hiya!" said the little bowling ball sized imp.

Lea squatted, and held out a clawed hand. "'Allo. Lea. And this is Kairi. You must be Mike?"

"Mike Wazowski, at your service, Lea!" The imp was oddly chipper, and gingerly took Lea's hand for a shake. "Donald called us, sorry about the front gates."

"Don't worry. We heard what Randall did. Security checks are important for a place like this," Kairi added.

"I think it's just theater, if you ask me. And I know a thing or two about theater. I'm sure your bosses told you about the guy in the black coat who got in here without going through the front door."

"Black coat?" Lea asked incredulously, holding the lapel of his open duster.

"It was like he could telepo-" Mike started, before Lea slipped through one of his corridors and ended up at the end of the hall, waving with a smile.

"Dark isn't evil!" Lea shouted, jogging back to Mike and Kairi, who facepalmed, and then spent a good two minutes attempting to still the full body jiggle that ensued. Mike's jaw dropped almost clean to the floor.

"Okay, um, first off, wow."

Lea shrugged. "'S a gift."

"Second, what is that, buy one black coat, get teleportation free?"

"Actually, it's because I could do it I was given a black coat," Lea replied shrugging.

"Okaaaay, secret magic society, check. Next, you'll tell me Sora's little extermination company employs **humans**."

Lea and Kairi gave each other side eye and Mike's jaw almost hit the floor a second time in as many minutes.

"You know one of those three is secretly a human," Lea said, snorting a little.

"Let me guess, **Donald**," Mike replied. "He's the only sane one among the three of 'em. And he's small. We used to hide Boo in a monster costume too."

Kairi and Lea snorted. "Got us there," Kairi said, trying desperately not to laugh.

Mike pushed open a big heavy door, ushering them into Sully's office.

The big blue and purple polka dotted monster stood up to his full height, offering a massive paw to shake.

"So, what brings you here, exactly? Donald said we might have an issue, and I take this sort of thing very seriously. Safety first for my team, and the other worlds we visit."

Lea frowned. He didn't realize walking right up to the company CEO would actually be that easy. Kairi stepped in.

"Sora's gone missing, Mister Sullivan," she said, cutting straight to the chase.

"Sulley," he corrected. "But go on."

"He… we were at a party only a few hours ago. And he disappeared right in front of me, and then one more friend you don't know did too. Donald and Goofy were at the party too. Everyone there is pretty strong like Sora, Donald, and Goofy are, so we're trying every path we can to find him."

"Wait, you said **disappeared**," Mike piped in, still in the room. He was a little hard to notice, being so underfoot.

"**Vanished**. And no, he can't just teleport, so he was probably taken. We're pretty sure he ended up in another world. One with humans in it, and a big city."

Sulley frowned. "I mean, that's a lot of how humans live. How do you know?"

"The second friend- his name is Riku- was able to describe us some stuff before he faded away. I have part of it recorded." Lea fished for his cell phone, playing back the snippet.

Sulley frowned. "The part that bugs me is that he couldn't read the signs."

"That's what bugs us too."

"So, you've been to the other world on the other side of the doors?" Sulley asked incredulously. "You're not on my payroll."

Kairi inhaled. Donald could whine about Order all he wanted, but he wasn't there to chastise. "Sulley. You have it backwards."

She breathed out and continued. "This is my and Lea's first time on **this **side of the doors."

* * *

"I knew it!" Mike cried. "Monsters can't just teleport, that must be some weird human magic."

"Actually, it's Nobody magic."

"Looks an awful lot like a somebody to me," he huffed.

"Capital-N Nobody," Lea corrected. "Not human. Kairi and Sora are real deal humans though."

"Wait, so Donald was wrong?" Mike cried, surprised. "Go figure, had that one eyed loser pegged as secretly a Code Mauve."

"Well, I guess it's good to know that humans and monsters can actually get along. I guess I should be asking how you did it, Kairi, that costume is too good," Sulley asked, peering down, curious.

"I can shapeshift. So can Sora." It was easier to say that instead of explaining the minutiae, and she saw two monsters change shapes on the walk to the company. She didn't need to give these two any more heart attacks. "Before you ask, no, most humans can't."

Mike snorted. "So we have a shapeshifter and a teleporter. Sounds like the makings of a B-roll superhero flick."

Sulley ignored the comment, and turned his attention to Kairi and Lea. "So, you can read on both sides of the portal then, right?"

Kairi nodded. "Yeah, we're specifically looking for a city where we **can't**."

"Wait." Mike said sharply. "They can't be looking for **that **door, can they?"

"What door?"

Sulley tapped his chin. "It happened earlier today. Our door machine churned out a door on its own. And when it's opened, it just is darkness. But… it still worked as a portal to another world. We're just not sure where. The kid had a laugh, we filled six whole tanks, so, the door's in regular rotation."

"That might be exactly what we're looking for," Kairi said, genuinely excited.

Mike rubbed his hands. "Then what're we waiting for? Let's go nab it."

* * *

"Upsy daisy," a woman's voice crooned.

"Five more minutes, Kairi…" Sora mumbled.

"You're still in Shibuya, squirt," a second voice said brightly. "And I'm sure you two want breakfast."

Sora shot up, hair staticked straight out like he'd stuck his hand in a socket.

"What time is it?"

"Does it matter? Normal players only get up when we wake them for the day, and when the time's up, they're back in stasis."

"Why are Riku and I ignoring the rules? What's with the infinity timers?"

Uriel and Gabriel looked at each other, grinning huge. "Your entry fee." Uriel stated, simultaneously with Gabriel's "Your cheat code."

"Cheat code?"

"The entry fee to play the Reaper's game is the thing you value most. Some people lose what they look like, and have to play with some fake face. Many will lose a memory. If you win the game you get the ante you put up back though. And you're allowed to keep playing if you can ante something else."

Riku got up groggily. "Sora already lost what he valued most. **Kairi**," he added with a smirk. "Though… I'm not sure what I paid. Sora's here, I've got a host of memories I'd honestly rather lose…"

Riku held out his hand, and his key snapped to it.

"Powers are intact, too."

"Sometimes people pay when someone **else **gives up something," Uriel said with a wistful smile.

"Are you saying Sora paid for both of us?"

Sora panicked. "Did I lose Kairi again?" He was on the verge of tears, but Gabriel reached over from her swivel chair and put a finger to his lips.

"I did say cheat code."

Relief washed over Sora. "Did Riku and I cash in some favor to Joshua?"

Gabriel opened her palm and a black, white and grey card floated lazily above it.

"That's a Nobody's symbol," Riku said, looking at the card back.

"That's Luxord's," Sora whispered. "He said it was a wild card."

"Yup. And this is your entry fee. Except… it's worth too much. Way more than just two souls' worth. So, you two have perks."

"Perks?" Riku and Sora asked in unison. Gabriel went to her closet and pulled out two hoodies. Black hoodies, with white patterns.

"How'd you like to help us **run **our little scavenger hunt for Yazora?"


	3. getting 86'ed

"We have an 86, ladies and gentlemen," Mike called out over the loudspeaker, as the room full of monsters on the laugh floor looked up at the PA room.

"86?" Kairi asked.

"Staffer stuck on the other side. It's not totally lying," Sulley explained. "Everyone will finish their current assignments and clear out to the break room, and we can go pull down that door."

Kairi watched, as the teams finished what they were doing one by one, and a tall, wiry yellow monster radioed up to Mike.

"What happened? All my staff are accounted for," he asked.

"Accident," Sulley replied, physically lifting up Mike and moving him out of the way for the intercom access. "And none of ours. One of the hired exterminators fell in earlier when chasing down one of the Unversed. We've got this one."

"**More Unversed**?" the foreman asked, gulping.

"We've got them all," Kairi said cheerfully. "But we'd like to get our coworker back, too. Sorry for the trouble."

The foreman pocketed his walkie—talkie and ushered the workers out of the laugh floor quickly.

"All clear. Get 'em back, Prez," he said with a nod when all the doors were put away.

* * *

Mike swiped his keycard and punched in a code on the keypad, the door swinging in from tracks on the ceiling before settling down in its runner in front of them. For something made earlier that day, it was surprisingly old wood, with rotting cracks and loose pieces, and a triangle symbol emblazoned roughly at Kairi's eye level.

Kairi could see the purple miasma seeping from it, between the cracks. Had this actually been that easy?

"May I?" Lea asked, putting his hand on the knob.

Kairi glared, and Lea gulped. "We can both fit in the doorway. We're just supposed to peek in right now."

Kairi turned back to Mike and Sulley. "All we're doing now is checking portals. We already found one… a little further away… that sort of matches Riku's description. We're actually checking twelve different places."

"Just go," Sulley said. "And if you have to come back, we'll reopen it."

"We owe Sora big time," Mike said grinning.

Lea turned the knob, and both he and Kairi stuck their upper halves into the miasma.

* * *

"You… you're still a monster," Kairi whispered at Lea as the two of them looked around inside the room on the other side. "So am I."

"Maybe it's because we didn't step all the way through?" Lea asked, in equally hushed tones.

"I'm not testing that right now."

Lea nodded, as the two took stock of the space. Dark, check. No skyscrapers, but they were inside a room, here, and one Kairi could see had evidences of industrialization, despite the building itself being on the edge of disrepair. There was a cellphone charging off a surge protector, and a small night light plugged in close to the door. There were several lamps throughout the room, all off, but with cords trailing from them, so also electric, not gas or candle powered.

Dark, check. Electric lights, check.

There were two beds, too, one on each side of a stained-glass window in the center of the far wall, depicting a triangle shape like the one on the door in. A human girl, maybe eleven or twelve, popped her head up, rubbing the crust from her eyes.

"Mizu…" she mumbled. "Hora, Dipper-kun, atashi no mizu wa doko?"

Human, check.

And most importantly, Kairi couldn't… wait.

She shook out her head. The girl had asked Dipper where her water was. She wasn't speaking their language, Kairi was sure of it, but she could actually understand her.

"The girl's not speaking our language," Lea hissed.

"But you can understand her?" Kairi asked.

Lea nodded. "Aqua and Donald, probably."

Kairi strained. Whoever Dipper was, he or she was sound asleep.

"It's on the shelf by your posters," Kairi stage whispered at her. Lea looked at her in shock.

"What, Sulley said someone came here earlier," Kairi said to him, shrugging.

"Thanks, ladyyyyy…" the girl said, before going wide eyed. "Dipper. **Dipper**. They're back! There's more!"

Dipper, who they realized was a boy that looked startlingly like the girl who woke him, flew up and stared Kairi and Lea down. To their surprise, he didn't scream at seeing the torsos of two monsters in their bedroom.

Actually, he was **excited**, grabbing a book and running up to them immediately.

So much for Donald's order, Kairi thought, until she saw him flip through pages. It confirmed that it wasn't their written language, either, but she could catch fragments she understood.

And his book was filled with monsters.

Kairi sighed internally. At least they weren't messing with the natural order of how this place worked. **Too **much.

"Um, hi!" he said, nervously.

"Hello," Kairi said, gently. He reminded her of herself, back just before the whole ordeal with the Heartless on Destiny Islands. He looked about her age when that happened, too.

"The last one spoke some really weird language," the girl said, a little more cautious around them but still oddly friendly.

"**Hey**," Kairi said, pouting. "I speak that weird language too."

The girl frowned. "Yeah… you do. You're talking funny, now that I'm paying attention. But it also sounds like English."

"Oooh, telepathy, maybe? How do your powers work?" the boy said, scribbling excitedly. Lea peered down at the journal and saw that magic and monsters were normal to this kid. That made things way easier.

"Magic translator," he said.

The girl's eyes lit up. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, Dipper, **he's **a werewolf! Are you single?!"

Lea looked taken aback. "I… **what**."

Kairi giggled. "**She's asking if you're single, Lea**, don't leave her hanging like that."

The girl looked just shy of having actual hearts for eyes. "My red furry werewolf," she sighed. "Leeeee the weeeeeerewolf…"

"Um… miss," Lea whined, pitifully. "I'm a lot older than you."

"So? The wheels of romance don't stop on-"

"Mabel, stop harassing him," Dipper said curtly. Kairi smiled. Now she finally had a name.

"What, so you can harass me?" Lea said, grinning, showing off his canines.

Dipper looked down, kicking a floorboard.

"'S okay, kid, we don't bite. Or we do, but only the bad guys. We're sorry to wake you."

"No, nononono, I don't mind! Most of the stuff we normally run into isn't so… er, willing to talk. Your name is Lee? Are you a werewolf, or something else?"

"A Nobody."

"Nobody…" the boy said excited, writing furiously, as Mabel peered over his work in progress.

"**Dipper**," she whined. "You need to make his eyes smolder more. Smooooolder."

"Mabel, **please**," Dipper said strained. "I'm doing scientific research here."

Kairi smiled at her. "Do you have your own book? You can draw him too."

Mabel's eyes beamed, and she flew for a dresser.

"Mind if I turn on a light?" Dipper asked, before flicking on the lamps.

Kairi and Lea winced for a moment, before adjusting.

"So, um," he added, looking up at Kairi.

"I'm Kairi."

"Kyree," he said, scribbling the name. "And what are you?"

"Well, normally I'm a human like you, but I can shapeshift."

Dipper looked mildly interested. "Okay… another shapeshifter… why the pink blob then? Are you coming from somewhere where that's normal?"

For a kid, Dipper was extremely perceptive, and Kairi nodded.

"We're not just here to be researched," Lea said, as Mabel reached up to pet Lea's fur. He sighed, and held out an arm for her.

"So… soft…" she whined. "it's like kittens and clouds had a back-alley baby."

Dipper sighed, changing the subject. "Mabel told me the last one came in to try and make her laugh, and when they did, he- or she- just left. What is this, some kind of monster talent show?"

Kairi snorted. "It's… um. **Complicated**. But no, we're looking for a lost friend."

"Did the big blue fuzzy not get back home?" Mabel looked worried, holding Lea's arm possessively. The girl was surprisingly strong for her size.

Kairi and Lea looked at each other. Monsters Inc. wasn't short an employee from the way Sulley spoke.

"No, they're fine. We're looking for one of our friends. A human. Sixteen years old," Kairi started, then pulled out her phone from her waist pouch, flipping through photos. She faced the phone to Dipper, and Mabel squeezed in to look, too. "Awww, you two are cute! Is that what you normally look like, Kyree?"

"What, no comments on how hot Sora is?" Lea asked, chuffed.

"Um, no, I don't break up couples. I'm not that kinda girl. But yes, he's cute. In a dorky sort of way."

"His name is Sora?" Dipper asked, absentmindedly tapping his pen to his chin, leaving little dots.

"Yeah, and another friend named Riku." Kairi flipped through the photos again for them, and Mabel actually melted, looking at him.

Dipper finally, actually, looked surprised.

"No **way**."

"What?" Lea asked, confused.

Dipper grabbed the cell phone on the floor, unhooking the charging cord. "Mabel, can I?"

"Yeah, of course, bro-bro."

Dipper stared at his, or more likely, Mabel's, phone for a moment, flipping through things, before turning the screen to face Kairi and Lea.

"Is this who you're looking for?" he asked, showing them a computer-generated drawing.

"Sora… Donald… and Goofy…" Lea said, shocked. "But… how?"

Dipper shrugged. "We deal with weird. And this wouldn't be the first time we've met someone come out of a video game."

"Or the second!" Mabel said, jumping on the bed.

"…or the second."

"Does your world have skyscrapers? Ground vehicles?"

"You mean cars?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lea now fumbled with his own phone, and played Riku's last words for Dipper.

"I can't understand that," he said. "Your magic isn't working on recordings."

Lea played it back again, saying Riku's words as he did.

Dipper frowned. "That doesn't sound like here… the tallest building in Gravity Falls is like what?"

"Four floors!" Mabel shouted. "Maybe five!"

"But he could be in San Francisco? That's only a few hours' drive, and it's really close to where we're from. The rest of it sounds like a match."

Lea and Kairi looked at each other. "San Francisco sounds an awful lot like San Fransokyo."

Kairi addressed the siblings. "Dipper? Thank you so, so much. We'll be back, or send some of our friends here. Is that okay?"

Dipper beamed. "More than okay! You're the nicest monsters we've met this summer."

"Mermando was nice! You even kissed him!"

"Mabel, in this house we do **not **talk about Mermando."

Lea and Kairi pulled themselves back, and quietly closed the door behind them. Kairi looked at it again. Did it have an eye in the triangle when they'd opened it?

Wait… Dipper's world had cell phones, even though it was an Old World, didn't it?

"Hang on, one more thing," Kairi insisted, reopening the door before Mike could have it retracted. She shoved her torso into the portal, and quickly sent off a text to Sora and Riku.

"don't worry, le coming for u."

She added their monster selfie, and waited.

Her breath hitched for a moment, as she saw Dipper look at her confused, trying to get back in bed.

"I texted Sora," she explained. "I don't know if it'll work, but…"

Her phone dinged.

Sora had texted back.

* * *

Kairi pulled herself back out to Monstropolis.

"Hate to do this to 'ya Kairi, but we're burning munny here," Mike said, apologetically. "Either go through, or come back tonight when the factory closes?"

"We'll be back," Kairi said, hugging the phone to her chest. "Aqua was right, Sora and Riku, they ended up in the same place."

Sulley beamed. "They're through there?"

"They might be," Kairi replied. "But I had signal at least." She showed her phone screen to the group, as Mike put the door away, giving an all clear.

Sora and Riku were in matching black sweatshirts, Sora with his stupid grin and Riku rolling his eyes.

"homg kairi you look like pudding. we're okay, but stuck, have a lead to get home. oh! In this world… our world is a video game, isn't that crazy?"

Kairi ticked back. "I think we found the right place then," she typed, and hit send.

The message failed.

* * *

"**Crap**," Riku said, looking over Sora's shoulder. "We lost signal."

"Or they did," Uriel said, looking over from the other side, as she tried to tame Sora's hair down enough to stuff it under a short black wig.

"Hey," he whined. "What's the deal? You don't have black hair."

"**I'm **not a human," Uriel replied. "And we're trying to keep you two disguised. Would you rather I cut and dye your hair?"

Sora sat still after that.

Riku, meanwhile, sat patiently as Gabriel was doing the same for him, holding his eye open to put in colored contacts.

"Japanese people don't have blue eyes either," Uriel said, to Sora's groaning protest.

"Why not magic?" Sora asked. "You guys clearly can do some."

"Because we can sense each other's spells too easily. And trust me, you really **really **don't want to get into angel politics. There was a fight a while back that almost destroyed the world. **Don't **ask. The only thing we'll magick on you is what every Reaper gets from an angel," Gabriel said, reaching out to massage Sora's shoulder blade. He yelped for a second, before realizing that there was… **something**… back there. He stretched it, and felt it hit something squishy.

"Hey!" Gabriel whined. "Wait 'till I'm out of smacking range." She rubbed his other shoulder, and Sora shifted in his seat to get accustomed to his spiky black wings.

Riku snorted.

"You next, mister," Gabriel snapped, and Riku slouched forward to let her work her magic.

"Well, now, you two look like right proper Reapers," Uriel said, nodding. "Once you cover your faces, at least."

The door creaked open, and Joshua returned, carrying a few bags. "Breeeeakfaaast!" Gabriel cried, running to help.

Sora arched his shoulder blades, trying to get comfortable with his new appendages, and Joshua slid down next to them.

"A few rules for you two," he said, uncharacteristically sternly.

Sora and Riku nodded quietly.

"One, outside this apartment, when you've got Reaper wings, **you are a Reaper**. Act as such. Keep your hoods down and kerchiefs up to your nose. You'll be assigned to a superior officer. Follow their orders. If you think they're doing something unethical, don't argue. Just text me or Uri. Clear so far?"

"Yeah."

"The living can see Reapers, which means they can see **you**. They can't see your wings, or feel them. So, don't worry about hiding them or someone running into them. If living police or someone similar threatens to see you, or your ID, then and only then you can take off your hoods and kerchiefs. Here's some ID cards."

Joshua passed them small plastic cards. "Saihara… Youta?" Sora slowly sounded out.

"Hey, my fake name is Kiryu Yoshiya."

"That's a mouthful," Riku said, looking down at his own card. "Saihara… Daiki? So, what, we're brothers?"

"I didn't exactly have a lot of time to get these done, sue me," Joshua replied with a shrug. "Thing next. If you see any of us in the field while undercover, don't treat us like friends. We're your superior's superior's superiors. That's why that Reaper almost fainted when you hugged me last night, Sora."

"**Sora**," Riku echoed with a little bite. Sora blushed and broke eye contact.

"Don't use your Keyblades in public unless there's no other alternative."

"I figured as much," Riku said nodding, graciously accepting a plate of pancakes and soft-boiled eggs from Uriel, and a shallow bowl of soup from Gabriel.

"Anything else?" Joshua said, thinking. "Oh yeah. **Flying**. The minute you're off the ground, you're no longer visible to living people. If you get chased by a cop or something, just fly off. You're visible again to normies when you land. Doesn't work for other Reapers or game players, you saw us flying last night. Here."

Joshua handed them both a sleeve of pins. "Use these. They're Noise- er, like the Dream Eaters you two can summon. Only use your own world's magic as a last resort, got it? Just wear them, on the sweatshirt is fine, and you can call forth their power. It's okay if you're wobbly on your wings or bad with your magic today, there's always new Reapers. Your superior will understand. And when you're done with your assignment for the day, you can come back here. I'll have someone escort you around the city if you want to explore later. Any questions?"

Sora was already in his food. "No," he said, mouth partially full. "But thanks."

Joshua just shook his head. "God, help me."

* * *

"Rudol," the man said simply, sitting cross legged on one of the dry rocks.

Naminé clasped her hands and looked at him gently. "Can I get you anything, Rudol?"

"Some water would be wonderful, young lady," he said, absentmindedly shuffling a deck of cards, before spotting Vexen behind her.

He dropped the entire deck, scattering the cards at his feet.

"Don't worry," Vexen said lightly, as he voluntarily subjected himself to 52 Pickup. "Look at my eyes."

Rudol exhaled. "It's actually kind of nice, getting knocked back down to just one chip. Winning gets boring." He took the offered flask of water and downed it.

"You didn't keep any of Luxord's powers?" Namine asked him gently.

"Not a one."

"Stay with us, then. We can bring you to Radiant Garden, if you like."

"I don't have a mummy to my name, Naminé."

"Ansem will help. The real Ansem. He's taking care of Dilan, Aeleus, and Ienzo. And me."

Rudol frowned. "I don't exactly like handouts."

"Then work for it like a normal person," Vexen replied, handing back a full deck of cards. "We could use another set of eyes right now, anyway."

* * *

Olette sighed. "I guess there's none here."

"None **what**, my child?" Merlin asked, sitting at the bistro the next table over enjoying a glass of tea with his tart.

"We're looking for portals to the Old Worlds," she said brightly, before Pence tried to shush her.

"What, that's Merlin. He's one of Sora's friends," she added, pushing Pence's hand away from her mouth.

"Old Worlds?" Merlin asked, intrigued. "Who told you about the Old Worlds?"

"King Mickey," they said in unison, before Hayner clarified. "We were checking to see if there was a portal here for them. Riku and Sora went missing to one."

"Curious. Because I might have a solution for you three." Merlin reached into his bag, his whole arm engulfed in the thing, and pulled out a book, Sora on the cover, sitting with a teddy bear.

"A picture book?" Pence asked, curiously.

"There's a world inside. And… its residents told me there's some strange door that wasn't there before. Maybe that's what you're looking for?"

"Is it all like blackish purple?"

"I think one of them said 'oh bother, that looks like black currant jam', so I believe so. I can lend you the book, so long as you take good care of it."

Olette stood up and reverently took the tome. It was heavier than expected. "We promise."

"I'll hold you to it, young lady," Merlin said with a smile.

Pence was already on his phone, excitedly asking Ienzo for a pickup with the good news.

* * *

"Hey, it looks like we can wear our armor in public!" Ventus said excitedly as a girl in yellow zoomed past in an armored suit, followed by a three-eyed monster spewing ice.

Aqua laughed, and mussed Ventus's hair. "I think you're right," she said with a smile. Their own home had been a bust, but maybe San Fransokyo would have better luck. Not all these worlds had to have an Old World portal, but it almost felt like a contest to find one. Especially when her phone buzzed letting her know the Monstropolis and the Twilight Town groups had been successful.

Terra stretched, summoning his armor, and Aqua and Ventus did the same, to some audible gasps and phones out to take pictures.

Aqua nodded at her friends, and off they shot, like rockets.

* * *

"This suuuuucks, everything suuuuuucks," Demyx whined, calf deep in swamp water. He'd ordered the local Nobodies- Marluxia's, he noticed- to help him kill the Heartless, but that didn't mean he could sit completely on his ass. He still needed to see if there was even a freaking door here in the first place.

He trudged further and further away from the city, which had been a bust. But malboros had been found deeper in the woods, so deeper he went.

Eventually, he found himself at the base of a tall, narrow tower, conveniently next to a lake. He strummed his sitar, commanding the water to lift him right up to the window at the top, and stared at the sight there.

There was brown hair everywhere, in loops around all the furniture.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," he muttered. Not at… oh. Huh. Guess I am good for something."

The wooden door in front of him was leaking purple miasma.


	4. splitbreak

_**Thank you all for commenting and favoriting this; its the reason I decided to make it a full story in the first place! I am a huge comments whore- why write fic if people don't enjoy and engage with it, after all? There's over 60 comments and 70 kudos on Archive of our Own, plus everyone here on FF.**_

_**Anyway, please enjoy! After this chapter, the future ones will be the individual groups in their own separate storylines as they try to find the Keyblade Bros. :D**_

* * *

Demyx stuck his head in.

Then an arm. He knocked, realizing the portal led to a solid stone building on the other side. He tapped it gingerly with his hand.

Hopefully nobody here saw the top half of a torso sticking out of the wall.

He flicked his eyes around, attempting to judge the place based on what they knew. There were humans here, and a small city, though **village**was probably a closer word. If he craned his neck, he could see what looked to be a power plant on top of the hill, thick cables coming down it to wire to tall structures he realized were floodlights.

It was daytime- bright, sunny- but the floodlights checked two things off his list. It would get dark here, and there was electric lighting to combat it.

Cars, too, though none in the city proper. He spotted a car park to his left, at the bottom of the slope with about ten cars of wildly different make, along with a quartet of chocobos hitched to a post, three yellow and one a blinding shade of hot pink. They seemed content, munching from a feeding station, where a kid- probably about Sora's age and roughly Roxas's hair color and height- was cooing over them, giving them scratches, adjusting their tack and saddles.

Humans, check.

He peered to his right, back towards the hill. Someone was sitting at a café, reading a paper, and Demyx caught the front page headline and photograph.

The language was definitely foreign, but a few moments of calmly staring at the lettering and Demyx watched it morph before him into something he could read. He'd thank the mages later.

**LUCIS FALLS**

And underneath, a black and white photograph of a skyscraper-capped city, shelled with all manner of projectiles.

Demyx shuddered and snapped back to Corona, shaking a little.

"Well, it fits every mark…" he muttered, ripping open a corridor to Radiant Garden. "Just hope that's not the only city with skyscrapers in that world, or Sora and Riku…"

He sighed, stepping out into the plaza of Radiant Garden. It was nice to be able to link the corridor out to somewhere in the middle of a public square without a fuss. The locals had already been informed that the remaining Nobodies and the few Somebodies with powers like Isa were on their side.

Some residents looked on awkwardly, nervously at Demyx as he popped out and shut the portal behind him, but he ignored it. Maybe when all this died down he could plunk in one of the busking spots and just play his sitar for mummy.

But for now, he had work to do. He may have hated the "w" word, but another feeling overrode even that- **he actually enjoyed being needed**.

It felt nice.

**Felt**.

He'd have to get used to that.

* * *

Roxas flopped down on the bed. He was expecting dust on the sheets, after all, he hadn't used it in two or three years, but it was surprisingly clean.

It was like time had stopped here.

Xion sat down next to him, her coat crinkling. She didn't exactly like the thing, or what it represented, but until she got actual vestments like Sora or Ventus or Lea did, the old coat would have to continue to protect her.

And Isa, Roxas, Vexen, and Demyx too.

She got up, shut Roxas's door, and drew a sigil with the chalk left by the jamb. Roxas still had control of the Samurais, the dual wielding Nobodies, but that was only when he was actively paying attention to them, and right now it seemed like they both needed a break. The sigil was simple, but did the trick in sealing off the room, and Xion returned to Roxas to pull him into a tight hug.

"Five minutes?" he asked.

"Maybe thirty," she replied, resting her keyblade at the foot of his old bed. He did the same with his pair.

"Just a short nap," he muttered, pulling her closer.

"Hey Roxas?" she asked quietly.

"Mhmmm?"

"Do you want magic vestments? Like what Lea has?"

"I won't turn down free shit," he muttered.

"I mean… instead of having to wear these," she replied, pulling at his coat.

"Dunno," he muttered. "Guess it depends on the alternative."

"It doesn't… bother you?"

"It keeps us safe in the dark, I cant exactly be picky." Roxas yawned. "I mean, yeah. I know what it represents. But think about our keyblades. Xehanort had one. Keyblades are good right? So does that make him automatically a good guy?"

Xion laughed. "You know, I brought spray paint with me."

"Oh?"

"If we are going to have to be here, might as well trash his room, right?"

* * *

Mickey walked past the dull lamplight, looking at the rows of shuttered houses. Normally, that would be a bad thing. But in Traverse Town, shuttered houses meant that the occupant's world had been revived, and the occupants could be whisked home.

Many of the remaining residents were considering moving to Twilight Town or Radiant Garden, though some were considering opening the unoccupied abodes to other worlds. Tourism in Traverse would be a boon, especially given its perpetual, gorgeous view of the Ocean Between.

Mickey let himself wander in thought to get something to eat.

"Your Highness, sir?"

Mickey looked up from his cup of tea at the only café still open on the promenade.

"I'm… well. I'm really sorry to bother."

"No, ma'am, not at all. Can I help'ya with somethin'?"

"Your highness, sir, um. There's… well. There's a door. The old Dearly house."

"Are the Dearlys still there with their dogs or…?"

"No, all gone. Their world was revived."

Mickey sipped his tea. "Well, that's good news!"

"Er, yes, that part is. But the front door… it's leaking something. Something blackish purple. Maybe with your Keyblade you could lock it up? We haven't had Heartless in a while, and I think if there were another nest sighted, well, the last of us might just up and leave."

Mickey paid her for the tea and meal he'd already ordered, though she tried to protest. "I'll be back for the sandwich, Musketeer's honor. The house isn't far, and without Heartless, I'll be back in a jiffy!"

The server nodded. "I'll keep it warm."

* * *

Mickey opened the door to the abandoned house, and as the waitress said, there had been miasma leaking through the cracks. Instead of seeing an abandoned house, the open door just led to a solid wall of the stuff. Mickey took a deep inhale, and poked in.

* * *

Sora took one quick final look in the hallway mirror, adjusting the kerchief. The wig and his eyes only barely peeked from the hood, and his black wings looked… honestly a bit scary, with their sharp points and almost wrought iron design. Between that and his borrowed clothes-the black hoodie, slouching cargo pants, and a belt adorned with an oversized pouch stuffed with healing items and more pins- he almost felt like a bad guy.

"Hand," Joshua ordered. Sora offered up the hand with the timer, still stuck on infinity time, and Joshua wrapped it up in a long black cloth, dipping in and around, the fabric sticking to itself by some hook and loop material. He did the same for Riku. Even Sora didn't need to be told not to unwrap this and reveal his secret.

Joshua unlocked the balcony and beckoned them outside. Gabriel pushed past, a piece of toast still in her mouth.

"I'll have my district search too, but I doubt he's east of the Edogawa," she said, crunching. "Ten grand says he's still stomping in Shinjuku."

"Well, that's Uriel's. She'll tell her conductor they have to search too."

"Coco won't do jack shit and you know it," Gabriel said, stretching her wings and jumping off the balcony. In moments, she'd flown so far she wasn't even visible.

"Do you want us to.. just jump?" Riku asked, worried.

"Just flap a bit over the balcony first," Joshua replied. "But I think you have thirty minutes until morning call."

"Um if we go splat won't we…" Sora started.

"You can't really get much deader than **dead**," Joshua replied, locking up the balcony behind him and fluttering his wings.

"Right," Sora replied, stretching his own ones out until his shoulders ached. He gave two good flaps and started treading the air. He was surprised how effortless it was. Well, it wasn't like he'd never flown before, but gliding with fairy dust was an entirely different affair.

Sore folded his wings and dove, barreling to the city below, hollering with adrenaline the whole way down.

* * *

"Everyone accounted for?" Isa asked, tapping a finger on the conference room table, which was laden with snacks and sweets from the various worlds people had visited. The fruit tart from Twilight Town was already long gone, and the sugared jellies from Monstropolis were just about finished.

"I'll begin then," Isa said, whiteboard behind him as Ienzo twirled the marker, ready to take notes.

"As we all know, Destiny Islands has an easily accessed Old World portal. I would say it's a fairly decent match, but exact might be a stretch. Wonderland, however, was a bust. As it turns out, the chocobos spotted there were actually a gift for the Queen. They came from off world."

"Corona, probably," Demyx interjected.

"I'd say wait your turn, but I assume you found something?"

"Yeeep, at the top of this creepy abandoned tower. It was full of hair. There's a door to an industrialized world there with cars and electric lights and humans. Couldn't read the language at first but Donald and Aqua's magic did the trick."

"Skyscrapers?"

"None I could see from the portal exit, but there was a newspaper article about an attack on a city, and that place had skyscrapers for sure. Ones that looked a lot like Never Was, if they hadn't been shelled."

Isa frowned. "Promising, but worrying."

"Sora did say he was fine," Kairi interjected as Isa facepalmed. There went his "wait for your turn" approach. Until the words sunk in.

"He **said**?"

"I got one text in while we stuck halfway in our world," Kairi explained, passing her cell phone around.

"Fine but stuck," Ansem said thoughtfully, reading over Goofy's shoulder. "I would think Sora would be concerned about a war if there were one."

"Yeah. And I was only able to send and receive a text from the Old World we found. We stayed as monsters poking our heads in but the two human children we found didn't see that as strange. And we hit every box but skyscrapers. They told us there weren't any nearby, but there was a city with them a days drive away."

"Gawrsh, these worlds must be huge!" Goofy drawled. "A whole day's drive just to get to a city?"

"The fact that Kairi and Sora could text each other means that place is very high on the list. But it might be like here, where we can communicate from any world in the Ocean Between."

The group nodded in agreement.

"Did anyone else think to try and call Sora or Riku?"

"Gosh, no, though I should've. I found a world, too," Mickey piped up, as he refilled his teacup with Radiant Garden floral tea.

"What did you see?"

"Also humans, electric lights, cars, and darkness. Though the electric lights were mixed with gas-lit ones, and there were more horse drawn carriages than cars. I'm also not sure I saw any clothes like the ones Sora and Riku were wearin', but it was dark and I only took a quick peek."

Ienzo wrote this down.

"Okay, any others? Hayner, your group found something, yes?"

Hayner nodded excitedly, holding up the old book.

"Merlin told us the world in here complained there's a weird portal inside. We haven't checked it yet, though."

"May I?" Ansem asked. Hayner passed the tome down the table.

"Roxas and I found nothing," Xion admitted, as the book slowly made its way down the table in one direction and the gummiphone the other.

"Neither did we," Ienzo said, tapping the whiteboard. "I'm not sure if that qualifies as surprising."

"Same," Ventus sighed out. "We even managed to rope some of the locals into helping."

"I'm not sure we could have searched an entire city without help," Aqua admitted. "So we bought as much food as we could carry back in thanks."

"Didn't you have two locations?" Donald asked. "What about your home?"

"Also a bust," Terra said with a shrug.

"Same as us. All we got were some Valentine's chocolates and shot at by Heartless Cupids," Goofy said, rubbing a shoulder.

"We found a friend," Naminé said with a gentle smile, reaching out to grab a green tea custard. "But no miasma."

"I don't think I've introduced myself properly," Rudol replied, adjusting his new Radiant Garden attire. "My name is Rudol, and I'm sorry for having caused anyone distress."

"Join the club," Lea said, chuckling.

"I think that's all groups accounted for?" Isa asked, bringing the attention back to the task at hand. "We have five portals. Four look promising, the one Kairi and Lea found the most so."

"There might be others," Mickey interjected.

"While true, we should probably explore these locations first. "If you don't have a cell signal, come back out and here. Sora and Riku do where they are, so you should as well. Now. Groups?"

"Well, I am going back to the one from Monstropolis," Kairi said, arms folded. "I know I can at least talk to Sora, and the two children we met didn't fear monsters."

"Didn't… Kairi did ya stay a monster when ya entered your portal?" Mickey asked.

"Did you turn human in yours?" she asked back.

"No… but I didn't step all the way through."

"We didn't either," Lea replied. "We could still change walking all the way through, but it seems like monsters exist in that world, so I dunno."

"Order."

Everyone snapped back to Isa.

"Everyone. If you have combat skills, magic, or both, you're going in a portal. Sorry, Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

The three of them hung their heads.

"Hey, I don't either, and I used to be a Nobody," Ienzo piped up. "I'm sure there's things we can do from this side of the divide. And you three found an Old World, which is more than I can say for myself." The pep talk seemed to cheer the trio up, if only a little.

"Ienzo, please write down the five worlds and everyone's names," Isa said sternly.

MONSTROPOLIS, DESTINY, BOOK, CORONA, TRAVERSE

Ienzo then looked around the room, scribbling names in his loose handwriting

ISA, LEA, KAIRI, KING MICKEY, DONALD, GOOFY, VEXEN, DEMYX, AQUA, TERRA, VENTUS, ROXAS, XION

"Am I missing anyone?" Ienzo asked. "Can Naminé use magic?"

"About all I can do is ward off Heartless and Nobodies," she admitted. "I would be a burden in combat."

"We probably want to avoid fighting the locals," Isa said thoughtfully. "I think if you want to go, your powers would still be helpful, as well as your connection to Sora. But that is up to you."

"I'll go," Namine said. "So long as I am in a group of three."

"That would make four trios and a pair, yes."

"Shouldn't we… check the world in the book first?" Pence asked. "If it doesn't fit the criteria we could just ignore it."

Isa nodded. "Has anyone been in there before?"

"Sora has. But we couldn't enter with him," Goofy interjected. "I dunno why, but when he went in, we couldn't follow."

"Maybe only Keyblade wielders?" Lea asked. "Hand it over."

Demyx, who found himself with the tome, slid it diagonally across the table.

"Be gentle with it!" Olette cried. "There's a world in there!"

He slunk low in his seat, turning up his hood in embarassment.

Lea opened the book, and stared at it, flipping through the pages.

"It just looks like a children's book to me- ohhhhh." Lea smirked. "Hey, Ven." Lea shut the book and passed it to him.

"You want me to try?" Ventus asked skeptically. He cracked open the book, and disappeared in a flash.

Aqua stared at it. "I'm a child at heart," she said. "Let me try."

Terra almost spat out his coffee. "You're a child at heart and I'm Donald's nephew. That book isn't taking either of us, Aqua."

"Well, I'm not leaving Ven alone in there," she huffed, reopening the book. All she saw were paragraphs and pictures, now with Ven in a few of them smiling.

"Well, at least he's having fun in there," she huffed, shutting the book. Ienzo looked at it, nervously, and walked around, putting his own hand on the cover.

"I could try."

"How old are you, anyway?"

"F-fourteen, I think? I was a Nobody for most of my life."

Aqua paled. "That's horrific."

"I resemble that remark!" Demyx crowed. "Oh come on, it's called lightening the mood."

Ienzo sighed, and opened it. He, too, disappeared.

"Anyone else want to try?" Isa asked. "If that world is a match we'll need one or two more people who can go there."

Naminé, Roxas, and Xion surrounded the tome. "I guess it's worth a shot," Roxas said quietly, and opened the book yet again. All three disappeared.

"Oh come on, Roxas counts and I don't?" Aqua asked.

"Very childlike of you to be so petty," Terra laughed. "Maybe the book will take you now."

"Well, maybe it will," Aqua huffed, opening it again. Now there was a picture of Ventus, Roxas, Xion, Naminé, and Ienzo sitting on a stump, laughing at a small bear with its head stuck in a honey jar.

Aqua slammed it shut and sat.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, the group collectively ejected from the storybook.

"I got signal!" Roxas said, showing off his phone. "Sora didn't reply, but my text went through."

"We weren't going to stand there with our heads in that other world waiting for a response," Xion added sheepishly.

"Is it a match? Or close?" Isa asked.

"Ish?" Ventus replied. "I mean, it hit everything we talked about except for one thing."

"Chirithies," Xion and Roxas said in unison, before Roxas clarified. "There were humans walking around in the other place, skyscrapers, weird text, and industrialized tech with cars. But there were also these smaller people who were all soft and lots of colors. Walking, talking, stuffed animals. And the humans and plushies were just… it was normal for them. Ven called them Chirithies, but..."

"They didn't look like any Chirity I've ever seen."

Isa frowned. "That **would** be out of the ordinary for most people. But a lead's a lead."

"I'll go," Ienzo said, looking at the book. "I may not be a fighter but I've started re-learning some magic. I can heal. And the group of people that can enter that world is only a fraction of us. It'll make every expedition a group of three."

"We'll go with you," Roxas said, putting a hand on Ienzo's shoulder. Xion nodded in agreement.

"I think Ven would rather be with Aqua and Terra anyway, right?" Xion asked.

Ven bowed his head sheepishly.

"Well, that's one group down," Isa replied.

"I'm going back to the one from Monstropolis," Kairi insisted.

"With me?" Lea asked her.

"Who's our third?" Kairi asked the group.

"**Me**," Mickey insisted. "I knew I recognized those sweatshirts from somewhere, and I have a bad feeling about 'em."

"Are Sora and Riku in trouble?" Kairi asked, worriedly.

"Not.. in the way you think. They looked fine, my concern is how we're gonna bring 'em home."

"What about us, Your Highness?" Donald asked.

"I want you to go with a Nobody," Mickey said, scanning the room. "I assume Terra, Aqua, and Ven want to go together, so the groups left'd be you two, Naminé, Demyx, Isa, 'n Vexen. You two can't use Corridors of Darkness to travel, or Keyblade armor. You need someone in your group that can, in case you have to flee in a jiffy."

"Naminé, why don't you pick your companions?" Isa asked gently. "You can't fight, so you should decide who escorts you."

"Isa and Vexen, will you come with me?" she asked politely. "Demyx, I know you're not much a fighter either, so if you go with Donald and Goofy, they can fight for you."

"And here I thought you were making me second string," Demyx said with an exaggerated shrug. "That's fair. I can open shortcuts in exchange for not beating stuff up. Cool with you two?" he added, looking at Donald and Goofy.

"Welcome aboard, Demyx, a'hyuck. We heading to the World you found?"

"Fine by me," Demyx said.

"We can take the one in Destiny Islands," Aqua said with a light smile. "So long as Isa doesn't mind horses."

Isa shrugged. "I'm fine with this. Now, we have one final task. Hayner, Pence, Olette?"

"And here we thought we were just getting sent home," Pence said, grabbing another thin slice of Corona baumkuchen.

"Someone needs to watch that book, and be able to get inside it if needed."

"We're the only kids left," Olette said with a wide eyed grin. "We're the only ones who **could**."

Isa nodded. "We're counting on you three."

* * *

Mickey stared down the door, as the runners caught it and powered it on.

"It's weird being back here at night," Kairi hissed at Lea.

"You and me both," Sulley said smiling, as Mike finished with the safety checks.

"Now we're leaving this open for you. We're covering this area up with a quarantine sheet, so take as long as you need. Just press this when you're back out," Mike said, putting colored tape on one of the buttons. "It'll buzz service staff, in this case, us. Someone just coming out of a quarantine area without a haz-mat suit is going to raise some serious eyebrows around here," he added, tapping his own hair-free forehead.

"Good luck, you three," Sulley added. "Though if you're anything like Sora I don't think you need it."

Lea flashed a sharp, toothy grin, and stepped completely through the portal, Kairi and Mickey immediately behind.

* * *

Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. She saw Lea in front of her, back to a human form. The only change she could see was his dark maroon leggings and knee high boots were replaced by black jeans and sneakers. He rolled his shoulders and stomped a foot on the old wooden floorboards. Nobody was in the room, and the sun shone brightly through the stained glass window. Kairi, too, was back to her human self, the only change to her clothing was a pair of black leggings, and white running shoes instead of her boots. She turned around, waiting for Mickey to follow.

An older gentleman- not Ansem old, but older looking than Lea- popped out of the miasma on the wall. He wasn't as tall as Lea but taller than Kairi, and he immediately stumbled.

"That's new," Mickey muttered, as Lea caught him. "I don't ever think I've been **this **tall before." He brushed himself off, noting that his clothes hadn't changed all that much- black sneakers, pants with a plaid accent, and a zippered black hoodie. He spent a few moments just looking down at his hands, taking out his phone, almost worried to turn on the camera to see his new reflection.

"You look good, Your Highness," Kairi said with a smile. "Want a photo for the Queen?"

"Give me a few moments to adjust, wouldja?" Mickey asked. Kairi giggled a little again. His voice did **not **match his face.

Kairi heard thunking. Someone was coming very close to their- well, really, Dipper and Mabel's- door.

"We don't have a few moments, Your-" Lea started, before the door swung open.

"Dipper, Mabel, I'm Weird-proofing your…" the voice started, the sound of an older man, who did have the face to match. "…room."

Lea, Kairi, and Mickey stared at the man in the beaten-up trench coat, and the man stared between them and the miasma next to them. In a moment, he pulled for a strange looking weapon.

Lea paled. It looked like one of Xigbar's arrow-guns.

"State your names and what dimension you're from. **Now**." the older man barked. "Nobody comes in my house without my say-so."


	5. off world currency

"Hello, Pooh!" Ienzo cried, as he was tackle-hugged by the bear.

"You said you'd be right back…" Pooh said sadly.

Xion's eyes went wide. "How long has it been for you?"

"Two days, I think?" Pooh replied, paw on chin, rocking his head back and forth. "I've been ever so hungry waiting."

"You didn't eat for **two ****days**?" Roxas asked, worried.

"Oh no, I had a smackerel of honey an hour ago. But waiting makes my tummy all rumbly."

The trio sighed.

"Two days though? Wow. Radiant Garden and here are on really different time zones. **Fascinating**." Ienzo smiled at the bear. "We are so sorry we made you wait so long. It was only a half hour where we were."

"Can I go there someday? I hate waiting for things," Pooh asked.

Roxas frowned. "I don't want to make a promise to you I can't keep, Pooh."

"That's okay!" Pooh said cheerily. "Because you'll be here, right?"

Pooh put a paw to his chest.

"Always. And that I **can **promise," Roxas replied. "Now, lets go back to that portal, okay? We need to save Sora."

Pooh nodded and smiled. "I know you can do it."

* * *

"Ladies first my butt," Xion said, stepping fully to the other side of the miasma to a bright, sunny day. Her Organization coat had changed to a short leather jacket with a halter, her pants and boots unchanged as they were. She hoped the new jacket still worked like her other one, in case she needed to make some corridors. She flicked her fingers, materializing her Keyblade to make sure she still could, then hid it just as quickly.

Ienzo came through right after, and took a moment to look at his new attire. Gone were the cravat and lab coat, replaced by some very nerdy looking spectacles, a newsboy hat, and a light purple hoodie with jeans with a simple, thin scarf.

"Could be worse," Ienzo said, looking at what the World's heart blessed him with.

**Could be worse **was the understatement of the century.

"Um… so where's Roxas?" Ienzo asked after a moment or two of silence.

"Down. Here."

As if in slow motion, Xion and Ienzo craned their necks downwards.

There was a very irate two-and-a-half foot tall plush tapping his foot behind them.

Xion could barely contain her laughter.

"Oh. My. God. Roxas!"

"Not. Funny."

"I would be inclined to agree," Ienzo chimed in. "It's not funny. It's **hilarious**."

"Can I get a do-over?" Roxas looked at himself. Despite wearing his organization garb on entering, he was wearing his regular casual attire- sleeveless black zip up under his checkered jacket, jeans with the snap over designs, and sneakers.

No, it wasn't the clothes that bothered him, but the fact he'd shrunk down into a doll with a too-huge mouth and eyes, a tuft of yellow faux fur for hair and eyebrows, and dark orange felt for skin.

Roxas just sighed and yanked on his hair. Surprisingly, despite being a doll, it hurt just as much as if he were pulling on his real hair. Any advantage he might have had in a plush body was immediately mitigated.

"This sucks," he muttered. "This-"

Roxas didn't get to finish his sentence. They were in a narrow alleyway with dumpsters and tasteful graffiti, more or less hidden from public view, but with easy access to a major thoroughfare. And a semi-truck whipped by, honking loudly.

"-sucks." Roxas paused. "Waitasec. Is it just me or is this place… off. I mean, other than the obvious. I mean I just tried to say-"

A car blared loudly again.

"Okay. That wasn't a coincidence. I just tried to curse."

Xion giggled. "Well-"

"HOT DOGS GET YER HOT DOGS!" a street vendor cried loudly.

Xion clapped her hands over her mouth. "I… I don't think we **can**."

Ienzo inhaled slowly. "Well, okay, this is for science but holy-"

A police car whizzed by, sirens blaring.

"We can't curse," the three of them said in unison when the sound died down.

"What kind of place IS this?"

* * *

"No slouching, you two-bit flunkies," a woman in a very short pair of black biker shorts and a cropped lace top shrilled at the lineup of eleven hoodie-clad kids and teenagers. Sora shifted awkwardly in his sneakers, accidentally smacking Riku in the arm with one of his wings. And while the living probably just saw a weird gathering of hoodlums hanging out under the overpass with someone who could be mistaken as a model, the wing was sharp and barbed to Riku, ripping a clean line on the upper sleeve of his hoodie.

"Watch it," he muttered.

"Oy, flunkies," the woman said again, stretching her own pair of black iron-wrought wings. "You two are new. Names and how you died," she snapped, flicking a pin between her fingers, other hand glowing green as it mended Riku's clothing.

"Saihara Daiki," Riku said gruffly. "Dunno **how**I died, actually."

The woman took a sharp look at him and sniffed.

"Oh," she muttered. "One of **those**. Funny you go and immediately choose to be a Reaper though. Didn't even try and play? Honestly, you reek of Shinjuku. I can't trust Coco as far as I can throw her, so I get you. If I knew how she runs her city I'd be asking to be a Reaper before the bell's even rung."

"One of what?" Riku asked nervously as the woman materialized a whip, cracking it just a hair to the right of Riku's face. He shot upright, pulling his wings back almost on instinct.

"What, that Akibitch didn't tell you?"

Riku shrugged. "Madam, I understand you're speaking words but I genuinely don't follow."

"You smell like Akihabara and Shinjuku."

Riku said nothing.

"You're not one of those weirdo American cosplayers I heard Master Joshua picked up last night are you? I smell him on you too."

"If I am?"

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. "Take off your hood."

Riku quietly obeyed.

"Oh, so you actually **do**look normal," she said, frowning, lightly sniffing the air again. "I'll fill you in. You landed in Shinjuku, not here. Somehow, somebody pulled a string or ten to move you from that Underground to here. Yes?"

"Shinjuku is the place with the giant double building right? That's where I landed, yes," Riku said coldly, putting his hood back on.

"So… Master Joshua gave you the gift of tongues since you didn't speak Japanese."

"Yes."

"Why the nine hells did you get your wings from the Akihabara nerd, though?"

"Cosplayer," Riku said with a shrug. He picked up on things quickly, and it seemed to make sense to their new superior officer, too.

"Dear God, you should have been sent there. Why **me**?" The woman moaned. "Name is Eri. I've been the lieutenant of this part of Shibuya for six months. Twenty six games now. I'll put you on tutorial duty. And you?"

Eri cocked a hip and fluttered her black barbed wings, looking square at Sora.

"Saihara Youta…" Sora said, having repeated the fake name in his head fifteen times to make sure he could remember it.

"Oh god, you're brothers," Eri moaned. "And you actually died. I smell it on you."

"Wait, he didn't?" Sora asked, worriedly, flailing at Riku.

"Your brother was your entry fee, if you'd won the game you both would have gotten zapped back. Idiooooh, wait. No," she added, twitching into a frown. "Entry fee, yes. Not **yours**. You two have any other family here?"

Sora and Riku looked at each other.

"Well, now I understand why you were moved here, Daiki. Don't expect so much courtesy in the future, we don't typically put family together if they die at the same time."

"That's because if they die at the same time they usually already die in the same district," someone muttered behind Sora- someone whose voice was oddly familiar. "You wouldn't **need **to."

"Komaeda, your twin brother died a year after you, stop whining," another boy groaned. "Be glad one of the angels liked you enough to give you his cell number."

Komaeda rolled an arm. "Yeah, yeah and I can see him when the district walls fall down on Tanabata. Don't rub it in."

Despite being covered in his hood, Sora felt like the boy from the day before was boring a hole in his forehead with his eyes.

"Youta, how'd **you**get offed?" Eri asked, with a light smirk.

"Saving my f-friend…"

"Saving his **girlfriend**," Riku corrected for him. Sora suddenly felt very very hot.

"Everyone on the count of three," Eri started. "One, two…"

The other nine Reapers collectively "awwwww'ed" at him.

"Truuuue wuuuub," Eri said, grinning, making a heart shape with her hands. "I like you two idiots. I'll put you together. Who's going to show these losers the ropes?"

Komaeda shakily raised his hand.

"Fine, I'll allow it. Put up a barrier by the west side of 104. Everyone else pair off, I'll hand out pins and assignments."

Sora and Riku shuffled to Komaeda's side, when Sora felt his phone buzz.

"Ahem. You can take out your cell after I'm done, Youta. Nobody's gonna die in the next five minutes that you'd be keeping it in your pocket. If it's really that urgent, the Conductor or if you're really un-and-or-lucky, Master Joshua himself."

Sora sighed, and slid the phone back, looking at Riku.

"You were someone else's entry fee?" Sora whispered, as Eri was handing pins and instructions to a pair of Reapers at the other end of the line. The two giggled, and Sora realized they were **girls **under the same baggy clothing the rest were wearing.

"I don't think it's Kairi… you'd be her entry fee before me," Riku hissed. "And it's not you… please don't tell me the King died after all that. He was alive on the beach."

Sora frowned.

"Hey," Komaeda hissed. "Earth to the Kingdom Hearts nerds."

Both snapped to him.

"My brother found you, right, 'Daiki'?" Komaeda asked, air-quoting his name, facing Riku. "You know a lot of us use code names. If you want to just call yourself Riku nobody's gonna bat an eye."

Riku sighed. "Do you not believe us?"

"No, I **do**, and that makes it way, way weirder," their new friend hissed. "Trust me, the new regular players are going to start phasing in at noon, between me and my bro, someone's going to spot another- ahem- 'cosplayer' that doesn't look like they're from here. Then you'll know who dragged you down this hellhole."

"Eri didn't seem too keen on this Shinjuku place. Our friends in high places weren't fond of this Coco person either," Riku hissed back, before Eri stepped to them.

"Boys," she snapped, and the three stood at attention.

"Directive for the first day is tutorial," she started, then verbally backed up a little. "It's a Monday, so the new dead from the last week will all rematerialize here in Shibuya. How you two came in on a Sunday night is beyond me. And your circumstances are weird enough I'm keeping my paws out. If the Angels want another war, dear God I'm keeping my nose down and the hell out of the way."

"War?" Sora asked, voice cracking.

"No time now, when the missions' over someone'll fill you two in," she said with a sigh. "That was literally my second week here. Trial by fire my fucking ass. Anyway. New dead. We're usually pretty kind on the first day. We set up gates. If any of them come to you picking a fight, give it your all but only with what I'm issuing you. If they beat you, they get these."

Eri handed a sandwich bag filled with pins to Sora and Riku. "One of each to each player that beats you," she added, pointing out the two different kinds. "Don't erase losers. Revive them and shoo them off to go get stronger."

She pinned a Red Cross pin on a white background to each of their hoods.

"If any of your pins break, call me. Komaeda, teach them how to use them and maintain the barrier."

"Yes'm."

"They're told to hunt for this guy named Yazora today. I have **no**idea who that is, but Conductor's orders. In reality, anyone who passes at least three checkpoints and made an effort to look for whoever this idiot is stays in. Everyone else gets erased."

Sora shook. "Erased? You mean… dead?"

"I mean **deader **than dead. If they're not willing to put in the effort, they don't want to live. Come on, today isn't even hard. Just make an effort, that's all."

"What if someone can't fight? Like they're in a wheelchair or something?"

Eri laughed. "You think that matters here? Youta, this is powered by your mind," she said, pressing her finger on the pin she'd attached to his sweatshirt. "As long as you have the will, you can fight. There was this blind boy who fucking **clobbered **me three weeks ago. Set the entire plane on fire. If you wanna live, maybe someday enter the game as a Player again, and should you have the will, that's enough. You'd be surprised who can thrash here in the Underground."

"So how do we fight?" Sora asked, nervously, as Eri pinned some more pins to Sora and Riku's hoodies.

"These are Noise, they're like… they're all the emotions of the living taken form. Bad things, good things… just consider them and you'll get taken along for the ride. You're less fighting and more acting as a conduit. I'll let you loose by the 104 building so you can practice yourself. It's easier to just do than say."

"Why do we have to beat up people's souls?" Riku asked, as Eri finished.

"Because there's tons and tons of wild Noise roaming. They tend to stay in packs. **We **have mercy, they **don't**. If the dead can't beat you two with the pins I've given you, they'll get ripped to shreds in the streets beyond. They lose to you, you can revive them. They lose to some random lady's seething energy of finding out her hubby's been cheating? Poof," Eri replied, exploding a fireball between her fingers. "You're their last line of defense."

"That's…" Sora replied, looking at his new boss. "Actually really kind. Everyone here looked kind of…"

"Evil?" Eri asked, cracking her whip. "Not in Shibuya, we're just tough love here. Shinjuku, though?"

Eri exhaled. "Nobody's survived the week there in over two months. The only way out is up. Being a Reaper. And even then, holy shit. I've heard horror stories."

Sora bowed his head slightly. "Thanks for taking care of us."

Eri smiled. "Yeah, well. I don't like seeing people Erased. But some people are really just done, you know? Push hard on the people that pass by you in your fights, but if you see they're through, let them die in peace."

Sora nodded. "I'm not. Ready to die, I mean."

"**Good**," Eri said with a smile. "Now get out there and wreak hell, you hear me?"

* * *

Ienzo fixed his scarf. "Well, the message went through, though Sora isn't replying."

"A sent message is better than no message, right?" Xion asked. "We should probably investigate until we hear back."

* * *

Roxas frowned. He wasn't huffing and puffing, but he was practically running to keep stride of Xion and Ienzo down the busy road.

"Roxas, do you want a lift?" Ienzo asked him, kneeling to talk at eye level.

Roxas frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "No I don't want a-"

"Look out!" Xion cried, as a tan colored plush with brown hair barreled straight into Roxas and Ienzo, sending Ienzo's phone, in his free hand ready to answer when Sora texted, up into the air. It came down with a crash, bouncing twice on the pavement, next to another near-identical model.

"Oh, neat, you got the Kingdom Hearts case too? Thing's indestructible at least," the plush asked, as he picked up both of them, handing one back to Ienzo. "Sorry about that."

Before Ienzo could ask what he meant, the plush saw his own two companions, a man that basically looked like a human version of himself, and a young woman in a flared skirt, run up to him.

"Walter! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mary!" Walter, the doll, replied. "Sorry, I just thought we were going to miss the bus."

"There's another in five minutes, silly, come on, we aren't missing our tour of Muppet Studios, I promise," Mary sad, helping the doll brush off, while the man lifted him up on his shoulders.

"High-ho, Silver!" Walter cried from his perch, while Mary and the man linked hands and ran off, presumably to a bus stop.

"You sure you don't want a boost?" Xion asked Roxas again, as they watched the trio hop on a bus marked 37 at the corner.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Roxas admitted. He'd deal with the blow to his pride when he wasn't toddler height.

Ienzo's eyes went wide. "Of all the luck," he muttered.

"What?" Roxas asked worried. "Did that break your phone?"

"It didn't break," Ienzo said glumly, facing the device to Xion and Roxas. "But it's also not mine." The background photo was of the three people that had just departed, and stuck on a lock screen.

"This world is stupid," Xion said, easily swinging Roxas up onto her shoulders. He didn't weigh much, after all.

"Well, I guess I know where we're headed," Ienzo said, determined. "Muppet Studios. I need my phone back, and I'm sure Walter wants his."

* * *

"Student fare's a dollar," the massive literal bear of a bus driver said, bored, as Xion, Roxas, and Ienzo attempted to climb on.

"What's a dollar?" Ienzo asked.

"What, you kidding me?" the bear grunted, pushing his hat back a little. "You not from around here or somethin'? I don't got all day."

"Er, sorry, we aren't."

"Look, don't sneak off from your families if you're on vacation. This bus just goes to the old theater district anyway," he said, shooing them back out.

The driver slammed the bus door shut in their faces and sped off.

"So much for hospitality," Ienzo muttered. "I guess we'll have to get some local currency."

And that's when they heard the scream.

* * *

Roxas was cursing up a storm, inaudible over the traffic jam of honking cars.

Heartless. Here. In the middle of this city.

Ienzo pointed a finger at his own throat and began talking at an inhuman volume. "Everyone! Get inside a store, a building, whatever, we've got this."

Xion side eyed him. "Just relearning magic, huh?"

"Well, I'm not that proficient at combat related spells yet. Radiant Garden was Heartless free after the whole Nobody debacle. So most of what I know is-"

"Less talky, more fighty," Xion cut over him, summoning her Keyblade.

"World order!" Ienzo screeched.

"Don't care, lives at stake," she yelled back, slicing a smaller Heartless without much thought.

Roxas jumped off Xion's back and stretched his arms out, calling his own Keyblades to him. They materialized, full size, and yanked his soft felt arms down with him.

He opened his mouth and a car honked.

"I can't lift my-"

Honk.

"Keyblades with these-"

An ambulance whizzed onto the scene, siren blaring.

"-noodle arms!" Roxas cried.

Ienzo jumped on the hood of a parked car, and ungraciously rolled on the pavement next to Roxas.

"That looked way cooler in my head," he muttered, annoyed, green light from his arms closing up the myriad array of scrapes he accumulated from his ill planned stunt.

"You and cool can only be found in the dictionary when the word 'isn't' is sandwiched between," Roxas bit back as he watched Xion do her best against the horde alone.

"Roxas. Do you trust me?"

"Enough," Roxas replied. "I hope whatever you've got in mind is better than eating pavement."

"Tell me if this hurts you," Ienzo said, leaning over.

Roxas gave a slight nod and Ienzo grabbed his arm, tying it in a knot around the hand guard of one of his keyblades.

Roxas looked at it, startled, mildly disturbed it didn't hurt him. "Bleeping noodle arms," he muttered censoring himself. He was getting sick of the honking.

Ienzo tied his other felt arm around his other keyblade, and grabbed Roxas by the legs, pirouetting in a circle within the makeshift arena created by the haphazardly parked traffic jam of now-abandoned cars. The centripetal force lifted Roxas clear off the ground and with the blades knotted to his arms, he was still wielding them, if only on a technicality. Ienzo froze the ground under him, using the reduced friction to keep spinning, slicing a small army of weak shadows as he danced, holding Roxas for dear life, worried he might pop a seam.

Xion just laughed, striking out at the few left behind in Ienzo's wake. In moments, the entire nest of them was gone as quickly as they arrived.

It almost felt like a plot point in a movie, Roxas thought, as the world slowly stopped spinning. He dismissed his Keyblades and shook out his arms, letting Xion bend down to check the stitching on his shoulders and legs, and fluff out the stuffing in his hands until he had feeling in them again.

Ienzo inhaled, addressing the crowd, taking off his hat in a bow.

"Thank you, thank you!" he hollered as people re-entered the street, some checking their cars to see them completely undamaged. "We hope our street performance brightened your day!" Ienzo added with a confidence Roxas and Xion hadn't heard before. Slowly, people around them began to clap and cheer.

"I was really scared for a second."

"Man, LA is so cool! That was movie quality!"

"Dude, they pulled a stunt like that for a show?"

A kid ran out in the street, dropping a piece of paper in Ienzo's hat. "That was really cool!" she cried, whistling from between a missing tooth. "When's it gonna be in TV?"

Ienzo just smiled and shrugged. Soon, more people came by, dropping paper and coins in Ienzo's hat, until a man in blue ushered them out of the street.

"Blocking traffic, stunt kid," the man snapped. "Don't care how cool that is, do it on the sidewalk at a busking station next time, you hear me?"

"Yessir," Ienzo said, face red as he walked off with Xion and Roxas in tow.

Roxas stood on tiptoes to peek in Ienzo's hat.

"So this is a dollar," he muttered, pulling out one of the rectangular sheets of thick paper. "I'm pretty sure we've got way more than three now. Heck of a trick you pulled, Ienzo."

"Oh, hey, heck is okay," Ienzo said, tapping his chin.

"**That's **what you get out of all this?" Xion asked him incredulously. "Come on, pull out three dollars from that pile, we've got a bus to catch."


	6. scramble, cross

Naminé swallowed. "Gentlemen?" she asked quietly.

"Mhmm?" Vexen asked with a hum. "I'll go first, I suppose. Isa, you take up the rear?"

Isa nodded, and Vexen held his breath, stepping through the portal. Naminé followed as soon as the tails of his long Organization coat had completely been consumed by the miasma.

"Erk!" she hissed aloud, as the world's heart blessed her with the most unfortunately uncomfortable dress she'd ever had the misfortune to wear. She pressed fingers to the front, feeling stiff fabric holding her torso in.

"What is this horrid contraption?" she hissed at Vexen, who was himself taking stock of his new suit with tailcoat.

"I think that's a corset," She heard from behind. She couldn't twist her torso to look at Isa, carefully opting to shuffle to turn around. His clothes were much like Vexen's, with the addition of a top hat.

"I'm just glad I'm not partial to combat," Naminé said, wiggling in the dress in an attempt to make it slightly more forgiving. "I can't imagine fighting in this."

"Well, we really shouldn't be staying, anyway," Isa said, sharply. He showed them his phone.

**Message failed to send, signal not found**.

"Hm," Naminé said with a nod. "We should pick one of the other four portals and catch up with them, then."

"Monstropolis sounded the most promising," Isa agreed. "No point being-"

Vexen cut him off by pointing. One of the lamps above them, illuminating the near-empty cobblestone street they stood on was… blinking.

Isa gulped, realizing there was a Shadow hanging out on the iron-wrought lamp.

"I guess we help, then bail?" Isa asked Vexen as they both materialized weapons, nodding to each other.

"Oh no, no, that just will not do," a woman said from behind them, tapping Isa on the shoulder.

"My good sir, you cannot expect to protect the city with merely a shield?" the woman asked, eyeing Vexen curiously. "Defend your lady friend, I have the fiends here. And do be a dear, and hold this for me."

The woman, young, with a black flower-adorned hat, extremely fitted black velvet coat, and black frock, passed Vexen a large carpet bag and flourished an umbrella with a parrot's face in the handle. She pulled a small item out of a pocket, clipping it in the parrot's mouth and the umbrella changed before their eyes into intricate black ironwork, a fiery lamp on the business end of the weapon, wrought iron twisted into the teeth of…

"A Keyblade…" Isa said low. "Isn't this world so old it broke off **before**the Keyblade war?"

"Hmph," she harrumphed, gracefully spinning, flying into the air and taking out the swarm without breaking a sweat.

"Oh, do close your mouth, young man. You are not a codfish," she snipped, holding out her free hand for her bag.

"Y-yes ma'am," Vexen said, gulping. "Keyblade Wielder, ma'am."

"That's Keyblade Master to you."

"Master…?" Isa began, looking at her, waiting for her to provide a name.

"Mary. Mary Poppins, at your service," she said, far more warmly to Isa than she'd been to Vexen.

"If you're treating my friend poorly because he's a Nobody, Master Mary…"

"I'm treating your friend sharply because he needs to learn his manners," she replied curtly. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"M-master Mary, please wait," Naminé finally spoke. "We're looking for two lost friends. Both Keyblade Wielders, one of whom is a Master, too."

"I'm afraid I've been searching this world for ages, with no sign of any other Keyblade users," she said, softening.

"This happened only a day ago. Not even." Naminé supplied. "They vanished. One was able to tell us a little of what he saw before he disappeared."

Mary's mouth barely twitched to a frown. "What are their names?"

"Sora and Riku. Two boys, sixteen and seventeen years old."

Mary nodded. "I shall see to searching for them. I've been working as a nanny trying to find a child to succeed me, after all. What shall I do, should I find these lost children?"

Naminé pointed to the miasma behind her. "This leads to our world."

"The Great World?" Mary asked, nervously. "Is it safe to go?"

"Enough. There's still heartless and Nobodies," Isa cut in- nudging Vexen. "But they're mostly relegated to the woods and other uninhabited places."

Mary's grip tightened on her lamplight Keyblade, and she inhaled sharply. "What of Daybreak Town?"

"Sunk," Vexen said, after a silence. "The Great World hasn't existed for a very, very long time. The World split into pieces after a war into many separate smaller places. It's possible to travel between them, but not easy. How long have you been on this side, Master Mary?"

Mary's face sharpened, and she removed the keychain from her blade, reverting it to an umbrella. "A bit too long, I'm afraid. I never stay longer than I am needed, though. A little while yet won't hurt. How does this sound- I stay, and should I find your friends, return to that side with them? If I close and lock that portal the Heartless should cease to exist here. You'd be free to search elsewhere."

"And if we find them outside, we'll come back here to let you know," Naminé offered.

Mary smiled gently. "My final act as babysitter."

Isa tipped his hat. "Your assistance is most appreciated, madam."

"Now, now," she said brusquely, shooing them back with a hand to the portal. "Off you trot. I'm sure you have better places to look. I'll have my friends cover up that horrid thing so people don't accidentally fall in."

"Thank you, Master Mary," Vexen added sheepishly, the last one out. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone named Myde, would you?"

"That layabout? Why, he certainly needed to pay more attention, that's for certain. Has some misdeed of his lasted all this time? Or did he actually sit down and write down some of that love song drivel he was always strumming for posterity?"

"His Nobody is helping us search."

Mary froze. "Is he now?"

"Four Keyblade wielders who lost their hearts in the war had their Nobodies survive to this day. Myde, Rudol, Elrena, and Lauriam; all but Myde recently recompleted thanks to the two teenagers we're tracking having smacked some literal sense into them. Myde has asked not to be after he saw several former Nobodies lose their magical powers; I chose to do the same."

Mary frowned. "When you see all of them, tell them Mary Poppins has a delivery of one fine knuckle sandwich, each, and **hot**."

Vexen shuddered. "I will certainly let them know."

"I have work to do, now, off you go… dear me, what's your name?"

"Vexen."

"Well, your presence here certainly vexes me! Scoot, and find your friends. I can hold the fort here for Sora and Riku."

Vexen turned beet red, bowed, and fled back through the miasma to Traverse Town.

* * *

"Look sharp," Komaeda warmed. "See those floating symbols?"

Sora nodded, gently flapping his wings to tread air, Riku beside him doing the same. His shoulders were going to be sore by dinner at this rate.

"Noise, I'm guessing?" Riku asked.

"Hang on, Eri's done with us, right?" Sora asked, digging out his phone.

"Message? I didn't get anything," Riku asked, peering over.

"From Ienzo," Sora said with a squint. It was odd, reading things in his own language again after seeing and speaking only Japanese. His brain felt like mush trying to decipher the text before it just clicked again.

"Looking for you, does anything here look familiar?" Sora read around, scrolling through the images that followed.

Komaeda peered next to him. "Graffiti looks like… oh this is Los."

"Los?" Riku and Sora asked together.

"Er, it's how we usually call Los Angeles. It's a city in America."

"Where everyone thinks we're from?" Riku asked.

"Well, everyone but me and your pal Mister High and Mighty. How you got on **hugging **terms with him is way beyond my pay grade. Anyway…" Komaeda frowned.

"Them being there isn't going to help you much. Unless you're alive or have an angel pull you out of district, you ain't leaving Shibuya." He flipped through the images. "Um… pardon this, but what the fuck?"

"What?"

"That." Komaeda pinched the photo outwards to enhance it, and Sora saw plush toys walking alongside the humans.

"What?"

"You don't see the plush toys walking?" Komaeda asked incredulously.

"Is that not normal here?"

"Is that not normal he- no, **no **it's not normal here! Not even **Noise **look like that and they can't be seen by the living."

"Oh."

"Ienzo must be on the wrong world, then. Close to this one, but not the same," Riku replied.

"I'll let him know!" Sora said excitedly. "I can't believe how many people are looking."

Sora quickly typed back "close but wrong place. locals recognized the city, but no walking plushies here. look for a world w a city called shibuya. In the local language it's written like this".

Sore pulled out the notes app and scribbled Shibuya in Japanese, then captured the screen, and added it to the text.

It sent, to Sora's relief.

"You know, you could have saved the image and attached it that way," Riku said, rolling his eyes.

"You can?" Sora asked excitedly.

"I'll show you later. We need to practice fighting before the real fights start."

"Oh… yeah. And these pins only, right?"

"Noise around here are pretty weak and docile. People mostly just pass through the Scramble, they don't stay here unless they die here. They won't attack you unless you provoke them."

Sora nodded.

"Fly into one of the symbols, that'll shoot you into a pocket dimension to fight them. Both of you together. That dimension is split in half and you have to fight on both planes at once."

"Is that why everyone was paired up?"

Komaeda nodded. "Because they're not aggressive here, an odd number of us is okay. Head deeper into the city though, like on Cat Street or something, and if you're alone, you're as good as dead. First rule of the Underground is act like the Noise; always travel in packs. Both of you go, fly at one that looks green to you."

"Green… to us?" Riku asked incredulously.

"Noise give off different colors, but their perceptive is relative. Like how some bugs will be bright colors to tell you they're poisonous?"

"So something that looks green to you might be a different color to us because we don't know what we're doing."

Komaeda nodded. "One thing that looks the same to everyone though-bigger symbols, bigger pocket dimension."

"And more Noise?" Sora asked.

"Bingo."

Sora pointed to a small green symbol and Riku nodded in agreement.

For a second, they felt a flash of light, and then Sora was in the middle of the big scramble crossing, alone. No cars, no people, no Riku, and a small wire-work looking frog. Sora panicked.

"Riku!"

"I'm right here," a detached voice answered. "Where are you?"

"Standing in the very middle of the intersection."

"Same."

"There's one frog thing here," Sora said, calming.

"I have three.. no, two now."

"And now I have two," Sora replied, watching a second materialize.

"They must be able to slip between the pocket dimensions," Riku's voice said, just as one of the frogs lunged for Sora. He yelped, and rolled out of the way, faster and further than he expected.

"This stuff's powered by our will, right?" Sora asked aloud.

"That's what they said."

Sora folded his wings behind him, and attempted to jump without actually flying.

He banged his head on an invisible ceiling, the edge of the pocket dimension.

"Ow, hey, did you get hit?" Riku asked.

"I tried jumping, and rammed my head on something."

"Sora, turn down your energy a bit," Riku groaned. "We're supposed to be the tutorial, not a final boss."

"Man, we don't even get to be midbosses?" Sora jokingly whined, looking down at the pins on his sweatshirt, before he inexplicably started sweating. He felt like five spotlights had been centered on him, and skidded. None of the frogs were on his side, and he thought he saw double before he was floating again over the scramble, filled again with people and lowercase-n noise.

Riku scratched the back of his neck. "When all four were on my side I activated a pin and set the whole dimension on fire. Um… oops?"

Komaeda facepalmed.

"Try again, and… I don't know. **Don't **try… I guess?" he suggested. "I've never had to tell someone to put in **less **effort before, but there's a first for everything…"

* * *

Demyx inhaled sharply. "Well, it's here," he said, showing off the portal with a small flourish. "It leads right to the edge of a small city so we should probably be discrete about going through."

Donald and Goofy just frowned at each other. "Those dark corridors are bad enough," Donald rasped. "Guess I'll go first."

Donald stuck his face in the portal, and looked out. It was pitch dark to the left, down the hill, but there were floodlights illuminating the small city itself to the right. The street was thankfully empty, and he pulled back. "It's safe to cross. Come on."

And he stepped through.

* * *

"**Donald, a-hyuck**?" Goofy asked, looking at the wiry human slumped next to the wall he'd just come from.

"Speak for yourself," Donald replied, eyes shut, pressing fingers to his forehead.

"Gawrsh, it's not so different for me," Goofy replied. He was right, his proportions were basically intact minus the fact that his face was human and he was less his short black fur everywhere. His clothes hadn't changed that much, either, save his hat being replaced by some flattish bowl shaped thing tied around his head. "Vertigo?" he asked Donald, as Demyx joined them.

"Yes," Donald admitted. "I'm too tall and my legs are all weird." He pulled his fingers through short salt-and-pepper hair, sighing.

Demyx plopped down on the other side. "Hey, at least you're good looking, by human standards." Demyx himself remained unchanged, but his clothes had transformed significantly from organization coat to black leather jacket covered with patches and studs, and sturdy black pants.

"Come on then, up you wobble," Goofy encouraged, offering a hand. Demyx frowned, but did the same. Donald rose on skinny, shaky legs, scuffing a yellow-tan loafer on the stone road. Tentatively, he took one step, then another, shifting his shoulders so less weight was on his companions until he felt a little more at ease.

"Better?"

"Enough," Donald grumbled, checking his own attire. His own clothes had changed a lot more than Goofy's, their bright blue replaced with something far more muted, and the addition of pants and shoes. His hat morphed into something like Goofy's, by the way he felt the brim, but at least everything in his pockets was still there. He flexed his fingers, and his staff popped to him, scaled to twice its size to match his new form.

"Everything in order?" Demyx asked.

"As much as it can be," Donald replied, dismissing his weapon and fumbling for his own Gummiphone. "We should see if we can contact Sora first."

"At least one of us has brains," Demyx sighed. "You've got a point."

"I also have signal," Donald said, showing off his phone. "Sora, this is Donald, Goofy, and one of Ansem's former flunkies," he said aloud as he ticked slowly.

"I have a name, you know. It's Demyx. Or… Myde if you're talking about who I used to be."

"Okay, changing," Donald sighed. "One of Ansem's **annoying **former flunkies. Sent."

The three of them watched as a series of ellipsis formed under Donald's message. "Well, whaddya know. He's replying!" Goofy said, wide eyed. "Myde, you might have hit the jackpot, a-hyuck."

"only have a few minutes before riku and i are on duty, you're not with ienzo are u? he hasn't replied but he's not on the right world. and riku and i need u to come to us. city called shibuya."

"Ienzo is in a group with Roxas and Xion."

"I have signal to ienzo but i never got roxas's or xion's phone # before i um… well. riku doesn't have em either."

Goofy, Donald and Demyx looked at each other.

"We don't either…" Donald admitted sheepishly. "You'll have to wait until he texts or calls you. We'll see if this world has a city called Shibuya. I'll also text out everyone searching to see if someone else has their numbers. Lea would, if no-one else."

"thx donald… riku and i are fine for now but.. um."

"But?"

"im dead. even if you get here I dunno if you can bring me home. riku isn't but his own life was a wager for someone else… I don't get all of it. we're safe for now though, but I gotta go. riku and i are trying to earn our keep."

"Dead?" Donald hissed aloud.

"How dead can he be if he's texting?" Demyx asked. "Maybe the people on that world are pulling his leg for free labor."

"But remember what the King said about the photo Sora sent Kairi, a-hyuck."

"The King did say he was worried about how to bring them home once he saw their clothes," Donald added. "I'm going to believe he's dead for now. We have visited the Underworld on Planet Olympus before, another world having one wouldn't be that unusual."

Demyx frowned. "Touché."

"Stay safe, Sora and Riku," Donald texted.

"thx, gotta go. they say we're off duty in six hours. leave a txt if you find out anything?"

"Will do," Donald replied, before starting a group text with everyone whose numbers he had accumulated. Demyx scrolled through his own phone and added Naminé, Lea, and Vexen's numbers to his list.

"We should have done this before we left, but here is a group text for all of us searching. Please add any phone numbers we are missing, I don't have Xion, Roxas, Aqua, Terra, or Ventus's numbers. And for those of you who don't know, this is Donald's phone."

Goofy and Demyx's own phones buzzed.

"Everyone," Donald added. "Sora is on a World with a city called Shibuya. He is with Riku, able to text, but he is **dead**."

Goofy added. "This is Goofy, please check in when you've seen this."

Both Donald and Goofy received alerts.

**Message failed to send for the following recipients:**

**Naminé**

**Vexen**

**Isa**

Donald frowned. "I hope they were smart enough to realize they're on a world that doesn't have phone connection and left it."

"Nothing we can do now, right?" Demyx asked, checking in on the text chain before sliding his own phone away. "First, we need to see if this world even has a city that matches where they are."

* * *

"Shibuya?"

The trio had trudged their way to an inn, and stood at the counter, worriedly asking the concierge what he knew.

"Can't say I've heard of a place like that but… I also can't say I've really left Lestallum. It's not safe to travel. You three refugees from Insomnia? Sure as hell look like it."

The men looked back and forth at one another. "If we are?" Demyx asked quietly.

"You can stay the night free if you need, I'm sick of this war," the concierge replied. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

Demyx relaxed his shoulders, remembering the shelled city, and its name from the paper. "The whole place… it got bombed pretty badly," he said wavering his voice. One advantage of being a Nobody was that he was emotionless, but very good at faking having them. "The whole downtown got shot. We fled with the clothes on our backs on chocobo, but even they've scattered."

"Well, if any of you've got a sword arm or a leaning to magic, you can definitely find work here. Our floodlights protect the city but…" The man frowned. "You ever go beyond Insomnia's gates before you fled the coop?"

"No," the three said.

"There's monsters out there, worse ones in the dark. **Way**worse. The pub keeps a running tab of the bigger nasties and pays a bounty. Might still be open, too, if you go now. If anyone knows about the other cities of Eos, they do."

The man tossed them a key. "Room 2's got three beds. It's yours for the night, but tomorrow you start paying if you're staying. Seventy-five Gil a person a night, but I'll cut it to thirty each till you're back on your feet, fair?"

Demyx frowned, not knowing how much work that equated to. "Fair," he settled on saying.

"Thank you sir," Donald rasped, putting the key in a pocket.

"Long live Prince Noctis," the innkeeper said quietly, as they left the building in search of their next lead.

* * *

"Well, here they come," Komaeda said, a laughing huff to his voice. "I always like getting a 104 assignment on a Monday. It's pretty funny watching everyone freak out in the crosswalk."

Komaeda was right- there was a warping around them, a sick smell of burning ozone as people began to blink into existence. All told, there were about fifty or so, some panicking as people walking through the crosswalk passed right through them.

"I'll keep an eye on my phone for my brother," Komaeda said, gently putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'll find out who dragged you here, Riku."

"I… don't think that's necessary," Riku said with a gulp, as pedestrians got out of the scramble and the new dead fled to sidewalks, not realizing the cars about to come wouldn't hurt them.

A black-haired teenager in a red and black bodysuit was still in the crossing, screaming at a white haired one in a near identical bodysuit in blue and black, red grabbing blue by the shoulders and attempting to punch and kick him.

"They both did die, didn't they?" Riku asked quietly, watching Vanitas take a decade's worth of frustration out on his replica, hollering as cars whizzed by. Oddly, Riku's replica gladly took the abuse, as if it didn't even hurt.

"Bet you a thousand yen the guy in red from your world paid his entry fee with his superpowers," Komaeda said. "He's fighting like someone that knows how, but I don't see him actually doing damage."

Sora bit his lip.

"Yeah, and it's the most valuable thing you give up, right?" Riku asked quietly. "Because my Replica doesn't consider his powers to be useful at all. I guess now we know whose entry fee I was."

"You're going to have to smack some literal sense in them," Komaeda said quietly, as he saw the dead slowly realize what was going on, checking their phones and hands, while the two bodysuit-clad teens still struggled in the middle of the scramble. Or, more precisely, Vanitas struggled while Riku's replica just let him wail on his chest.

"They're going to need the gift of Tongues if they don't want to get Erased today," Komaeda said sharply. "I'll call Eri to get Joshua. You two know what to do until I'm back."


	7. satisfaction

"Mickey Mouse, King of Disney Town," Mickey immediately said, throwing up his hands in defense. "And the last time I saw ya, Stanford Pines, you were stealin' food from my castle's kitchen."

Kairi and Lea looked at Mickey in shock, and the man- **Stanford**\- loosened his grip oh his weapon, but only just.

"Six-six-eight-two-three," he barked.

Mickey sighed. "Nine-four-one-one-alpha."

Stanford took a sweep of the three of them, looking them square in the eyes, then holstered his weapon.

"Mickey. **Wow**. Inter-dimensional travel, huh? You actually cracked it. Should have stayed with you guys a bit longer."

"I saw ya ten years ago my time," Mickey shrugged, counting on fingers he was still uncomfortable to look at. "But it's good to see ya again, too, Ford. Are we in your world or are ya still ping-pongin' between dimensions?"

Ford made a small smile. "Nope, this is it. Casa del Pines. Made it back about… hm. Just a week or two ago… I think? Time's still a bit wobbly. And what happened to you?"

"What, me being human?" Mickey asked, pointing to himself. "Magic curse, my head mage cast it. I figured if we were divin' to other dimensions I wanted to blend in."

"Wait… does that mean… Queen Minnie? Sir Goofy?" Ford asked, slightly worried, looking between the other two humans with Mickey.

Kairi smiled putting up her hands in protest. "Oh, no, Mr. Pines, was it? My name is Kairi. I'm from the same dimension as the King, but from a different world."

"Intergalactic travel's picked up a lot since ya helped develop Gummi Ships, Ford," Mickey piped. "It's slow goin' but a few of the worlds are startin' to get connected to each other. Kairi is from Destiny Islands, and Lea here is from Radiant Garden. They're both Keyblade Wielders, still in trainin'. We are sorry to have bothered ya, though. We didn't pick where the exit would be," he added, pointing to the miasma behind him.

Ford blinked. "Kyree? Lee? **You're **the two monsters that visited last week?"

"Last **week**?" Kairi asked. "That was only a few hours ago."

"And eight in Monstropolis," Lea added, crossing his arms. "You know time flows differently on different worlds."

Kairi paled. "So Sora could be stuck for years in his new world…"

"Or just a few minutes," Lea replied, in his best assurance.

"Actually, he should age relative to the world he's from," Ford piped in. "So even if he's there a few years, he'll still be just as old as he was when he left plus the days passed where you're from, er… not sure if that's reassuring though," he added, running a hand through graying hair.

"Do you want more proof where we're from?" Lea asked the older man, apprehensively, eyeing the weapon holstered back on his leg.

"I've seen what I've needed to calm my nerves," Ford admitted. "But if you're willing to endure my academic curiosity…"

Lea grinned. "You're not going to see much on the other side," he said, knocking on the wall next to the portal, "because they've quarantined it off, but we can show you what we are as monsters."

"That's good, because I was going to ask how you were protecting this thing from civilians. Dimensional travel is… unstable, and that's on a good day. But yes, if you'll indulge me, I would love to see your monster forms. My nephew Dipper had quite the story."

Kairi smiled. "He's a lot like you, Mr. Pines."

Ford just shook his head. "And I'm becoming a lot like him."

* * *

The sky cracked with a bolt of lightning, and Sora could feel every hair stand on end. Frantically, he checked his wig with his fingertips, but the glue and combs Uriel had used was keeping the irritating thing firmly in place. Not that anyone could see much of his hair unless they were short enough to peek into the hood from **under **it.

Joshua slowly flapped down to the center of the scramble, his voice booming.

No wonder the other Reapers were terrified of him, if this was all they ever saw of the angel. Sora would have probably run for cover if he wasn't aware it was just an act to scare wayward souls straight.

Joshua didn't scream; his voice barely raised above a whisper. It was just amplified to an almost earth shattering volume, and Sora could feel every word hit him in the chest like a strike from one of Xigbar's projectile weapons.

"That… is… **terrifying**…" Riku said, muffled under his kerchief. Sora could almost make out the shape of his mouth hanging open under the fabric.

"I'm giving you two **one**gift," Joshua purred on blast, looking down at Vanitas and Not-Riku.

Sora noticed that some of the living humans were shaking with a chill, despite the almost sticky summer humidity of… August 23rd, by a large electronic billboard on one of the skyscrapers in the square, and the dead huddled on one side were in outright shock, actually able to witness the full force of this holy creature.

Joshua was floating just off the ground, his wings almost as if they were on fire, which made sense both to scare and startle, but also so the traffic police wouldn't scream at him to get out of the middle of the street when cars whizzed by, invisible to them in his current position.

Vanitas actually let go of Riku's replica, and just stood there, mouth almost wide open in shock, but not quite.

"You understand me, yes?" Joshua whisper-boomed.

Not-Riku and Vanitas just quietly nodded, while the rest of the dead just stared at the creature in the sky, speaking in tongues- or, as Sora and Riku recognized, their own language. They spared a quick glance backwards to Komaeda.

"Your language has way too many consonants," was all he managed to mutter. "Wanna translate?"

"He's offering them a gift."

"I speak all languages of all possible worlds," Joshua continued.

"No you don't," Sora muttered. Riku snorted, and any tension they had melted off.

"He is literally just fucking with them," Riku added, between quiet laughter, looking back at Komaeda.

"… but you cannot read a single sign here, **can you**?" Joshua's tone dripped with smugness. "Can you understand any of the other people who are quite literally walking through your dead souls?"

"I have to admit, the dude can act," Riku said with a shrug. "You know he's not this much an ass, right?"

Komaeda nodded. "He's the one who pulled what strings he did for me, I don't have any complaints. I know he's high to us Reapers, but low on the totem pole for angels. I just… I don't see him much except when he's pulling stunts like this. It was kind of nice to be able to see him off hours last night, even if just for a few minutes."

Sora focused on Joshua in the crossing.

"If you can't communicate, you'll die for good. I don't think you two want that… do you?"

"Fuck no!" Vanitas screamed at him. "And give me my powers back, I know you took them you little pansy-ass…"

Riku's replica said something to cut Vanitas off, but Sora couldn't hear him from where they stood.

What he did see was a small Unversed coalesce out of Vanitas's shadow, shaking with fear at the angel above them.

"Look at this shit," Vanitas screamed, lifting up the crying Flood by its scruff. "I can't use magic or a Keyblade, my punches are worse than an infants', yet I still ooze off **this piece of shit**!"

Vanitas hurled the Unversed away, and it skittered off between the cars, running on all fours in no particular direction, driven only by its creator's fear made manifest. Sora kneeled down and scratched at the pavement, like one would summon a stray cat.

The Flood's head perked up, chittering, before flattening into a pool on the asphalt. It oozed across the street, onto the sidewalk, and popped up right in front of Sora, Riku, and Komaeda.

Riku actually looked frightened, under the hood and kerchief and contacts. Sora could feel it. Or… was it the Unversed who reeked of so much fear?

"Hey, hey, hey, come here buddy," Sora cooed in his own language. Slowly, the Flood skittered to Sora, and looked up, with unblinking red eyes.

"Don't touch it!" Riku hissed.

"If Vanitas is powerless, so is this guy," Sora replied, determined.

"You will make friends with **anything**," Riku said, exasperated. "Don't ask me to heal you if it bites you."

"I said **did you want to die**? Completely and totally erased from existence?" Joshua whisper-screamed over the sounds of the city.

Sora slowly reached out. The Flood sniffed, curled into a ball.

Sora wondered If it was because all Vanitas knew was pain and suffering at the hands of his master and creator. **Xehanort**. Even to Sora the word felt like poison, redeemed by Master Eraqus or otherwise. Sora needed to be slow, careful. The Flood had trusted him, if only a little, and wasn't lashing out, for now.

"What else are you going to take from us for this fucking 'gift'?" Vanitas screamed.

Just another inch…

"Your ability to choose," Joshua replied.

Sora put a hand on the Flood's head. For a moment it and Vanitas screamed in unison, and Sora almost pulled away. But carefully, he scratched it behind its antennae, and the thing chittered. **Confused**. Like nobody had ever shown it affection before.

It melted almost immediately under Sora's touch.

"We already can't choose, so what the hell do you mean?"

Sora quickly mentally gambled, and scooped the creature into its arms. The Flood made a panicked sound for a moment, but Sora quickly rocked and cooed at it, scratching its head and petting its soft velveteen fur.

"You have to work in pairs to have a chance of being resurrected. I'm saying if you want to be able to read and talk with anyone here… I'm taking away your right to choose. You'll have to partner with each other."

"You fucking bastard you really think I'm going to work with-"

Vanitas stopped mid-sentence with whatever screaming comeback he'd had.

Riku took a large step, shielding Sora from being visible from the center of the crosswalk. "Keep that Flood occupied," Riku hissed. "And I don't even know why I doubt you."

Sora rocked the Flood like a small child until it chirruped happily at him, sneaking in a few chin scratches until the thing started to purr and stretch its neck, as if demanding more attention. Sora happily complied, as Komaeda also joined in with belly rubs.

"Sora, Vanitas is like… raising his neck up for no reason, he looks so confused," Riku hissed behind him, almost laughing. "What are you **doing**?"

"I think… I'm calming him down…"

* * *

"I've got that," Lea said, with a smirk, snapping his finger under the dead pilot light on the Pines's beat-up stove. It roared to life, and Ford put a bent tea kettle over a burner.

"Thank you, Lea." Ford reached up into the cabinet, hunting for whatever tea leaves and instant coffee he could for his surprise guests.

"Lee?" a voice yelled, presumably in the direction of the front door. "Lee's here?"

"Hey Dipper good to-" Lea started, before he was tackled hard by the kid. "Oof, you're stronger than you look."

Only then did Dipper look up, face scrunched in confusion, then understanding. "Oh. You're a human today?"

"Mhmm, and I brought friends," Lea said sweeping his hand to the kitchen table. Kairi and Mickey squeezed into mismatched chairs.

"Oh, hi Kyree!" Dipper said with a smile. "You shapeshifted?"

"I got to see it," Ford said with a smile. Dipper pouted.

"I'll show you after we're done with what we need to do," Kairi said gently. "Also, it's Kairi. Accent on the first syllable."

Dipper blushed. "Oops, sorry. Oh," he added, standing on a wobbling stepstool to grab at a box of cookies, still out of reach. Lea glanced at Ford, who nodded, and Lean nudged the box just into Dipper's reach when he was distracted. "Yes!" Dipper hissed, snagging the box and pulling up a chair at the little table. "Lee, you'd better hide when my sis gets back or she's going to handcuff herself to you."

Lea winced. "That bad?"

"DO MY EARS DECIEVE ME?" hollered a shrill voice.

"Oh no," Lea muttered. "**Hide me**."

"Oh my god he's so pretty," came a deep booming voice, quickly followed by its owner, a square muscled beast of a preteen girl charging into the kitchen. "Be glad I already have a boyfriend, stud muffin," she added in her extremely deep gruff.

Another girl, who looked, as Lea would describe her, a female Ienzo before puberty had started to hit, adjusted her glasses, and peered up. "You said he was a werewolf, Mabel. This boy is clearly a **bishonen**werewolf. Huge difference."

"A what-now?" a third voice asked, a little older sounding than the other three. Lea put the voice at maybe Kairi's age, maybe a bit older than that. She sauntered into the kitchen after them, axe on her shoulder, and red hair stuffed under a fur lined hat despite the wicked summer humidity. "Hooooly…" she added, looking at Lea. "Okay, Mabel, see, normally when you tell me a guy is hot it's because you're **Mabel**."

"Excuse me, am I a ghost?" Lea cried, pulling on his hair as Dipper, Kairi, Mickey, and Ford just watched the exchange, Kairi giggling behind a hand. "I am **right**here you know."

Mabel entered the room, finally, and just stared.

"What?" Lea asked, snorting, as the kettle began whistling.

Kairi frowned, having pulled out her cell phone. "You might not be a ghost, Lea, but… uh."

She showed him the message exchange from Donald. "Sora is?" he asked, squinting at her phone, before pulling out his own.

* * *

Given the number of people, the group decided to move from the cramped kitchen down into Ford's laboratory in the basement. Lea may have been a pyrokinetic, but he was grateful for the modern convenience of air conditioning down in the lab, though the décor did his constitution no favors. Kairi saw the waver on his face, and laced her fingers in his own, squeezing the hand tightly to ground him.

"This isn't Radiant Garden," he muttered just under his breath.

"Ford is Mickey's friend," Kairi assured him, as everyone sat in a big circle, the girl who looked like a younger girl Ienzo stretching out enjoying the cold air in the vast room with a large triangular object.

Lea wrenched his eyes open, and spied scientific equipment scattered everywhere, but no gurneys, no scalpels. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief. Ford wasn't studying hearts.

**Ford wasn't studying hearts.**

Ford re-entered the room, having disappeared, to drag down a second… a second 'him', in a cheap tuxedo and gaudy fez.

"Unless they're paying customers, tell 'em to scram," the other voice grumbled.

"You must be Stan," Mickey said, standing up and bowing politely at the second Pines. "He's told me a lot about you, ha-ha!" Mickey added, his light uptick at the end incredibly awkward on a middle aged human man's face.

"Did your crazy friend go and inhale an entire tank of helium, Sixer?" Stan grunted, not accepting Mickey's outstretched hand. "He's gonna have to pay for that."

Mickey just slunk and sat back down.

"Be nice," Ford said, glaring. "They're from another universe, and yes, that's his real voice. Trust me, where they come from, **you're**the weird one. Mickey's saved my life and helped me."

Stan grunted, but walked over to Mickey and thrust his hand in his face. "Thanks for taking care of my dumb brother," he muttered, before cracking his back and flopping into a spare space in the circle.

"So, Kairi, what happened?" Dipper asked, pulling out his journal again, clicking a pen expectantly.

Lea watched Mabel slowly shift a few inches to her right to try and edge up against Lea's left. The childish crush she had on him actually helped alleviate the tension of sitting in such an upsetting space, Kairi on his other side discreetly massaging his palm with her thumb in slow circles also helping him relax.

Kairi nodded, and jerked her hand away from Lea's to pull out her phone.

"I'm going to have to read this aloud so you all can understand it," she started, then read Donald's text, followed by Goofy and Demyx's own check ins. She quickly checked in herself, adding Ventus's number to the group chat. She hoped he could add Aqua's and Terra's. Lea took out his own phone, checked in, and added in Roxas's and Xion's, and now all their groups actually were connected, save Isa, Vexen, and Namine's phones still giving all of them connection error messages.

"Should have done this before we left," Lea huffed.

"So… your brat friend's dead," Stan said, frowning. "And… you're video game characters?"

Dipper crossed his arms. "Well, he's not in San Francisco like I thought. Would he be here? I've never heard of Shibuya."

"It's a city in Japan, in Tokyo," the glasses-wearing girl- Candy- said, matter-of-factly. "I went there last year. Everyone is soooooo fashionable."

"Hang on," Kairi added. "Someone else is typing."

Donald's message went through, and all three of their phones buzzed. He'd added the entire conversation he'd managed to have with Sora before Sora himself went offline for whatever he'd been ordered to do.

"We're at a pub now, trying to get info," Demyx added in a text.

"There's a Shibuya on this world," Lea said aloud as he replied to them.

"It's an eight hour plane ride from here," Ford added. "And it's another country. You can't get in without a passport, let alone the money for plane tickets. And before you ask, I don't have enough money to spare one same day flight, forget about alone three."

"So even if we're in the right place, we're stymied by… bureaucracy?" Lea asked, incredulously.

"Could you make a corridor there, Lea?" Kairi asked. Lea's eyes almost bugged out.

"Um… duh," Lea said, smacking his head. "As long as I see where we're going or I've been there before. The latter's no option, for obvious reasons, but if you've got a bunch of accurate maps and photos of the place, I could do it."

"Corridor?" Stan asked incredulously.

"I can sorta teleport," Lea admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "Like this."

Lea stood up, and disappeared in a wisp of black smoke, before reappearing behind Stand and Ford.

"Boo," he said, with a smirk. Stan clutched his chest, and Ford instinctively whipped out his gun, before holstering it again.

"Jeez, kid, gonna give me a stroke," Stan whined. "But, hey, if you can ever-"

"**No**," Ford said, glaring at his twin. "If you ask Lea to use his power to steal for you…"

"I was going to ask for a little light breakin' and entering only! Totally above board."

Lea pinched the bridge of his nose and returned to his space in the circle.

"How about this," Ford offered. "I need some help proofing my house against a demon, and I have to contain a little issue I'm dealing with. Then we can help you with Japan. Seems like wherever your two friends are, dead or not, they're being taken care of."

Mickey, Lea, and Kairi looked at each other. "A week here was just a few hours back home," Mickey supplied. "And I wanna get more info from Sora and Riku before we just go bargin' in there."

Dipper's eyes glowed. "Mabel and I've fought zombies! And I've banished a ghost!"

"Dipper, you're helping these three **save **a ghost. Not send it away. And that's new for me, too," Ford added. "Though, knowing you, you can do it. Both you too."

"Oh," the redhead- a girl named Wendy who felt so very much like a melding of Lea and Kairi it actually shocked them both, "well, if you do need to smack around the supernatural, I've gotcha. And I'll admit it, I've always wanted to see Tokyo."

"Last week road trip!" Mabel cried.

Dipper frowned, eyeing Ford. "Last week… right. End of summer's a week from tomorrow, isn't it?"

"It is August 23rd, so yes," Ford replied. "Now come on, let's go attach that unicorn hair."

"It's covered in the blood of our enemies!" the brash loud square girl named Grenda boomed.

* * *

"There is no way we could be in the right place," Terra grunted out. "If Riku mistook **this**for human he needs to get his eyes checked."

"I don't know, I look normal eno-oh my, Terra? Is that **you**?" Aqua looked relatively unchanged, roughly proportional in height to his own body, even wearing the same clothing as before. The only difference- and it required a very close look- was that her ears were pointed.

Like Xehanort-possessed people.

Her eyes, thankfully, were he usual shade of brilliant blue, and the momentary panic in his chest subsided.

"Terra?" she asked again.

"I'm… I'm okay. Your ears are pointed like…" he started, pulling at his own ears. He felt a point on them, too.

"Your eyes…" she started worriedly, summoning her Keyblade, pressing it to his throat, enough to subdue but not enough to harm. "Your eyes are gold, too."

Terra and Aqua heard a crash, and Terra stiffened immediately. Aqua pressed a little too harshly with her Keyblade, choking Terra, if only for a moment. A small green creature with wings and spiky mint-blonde hair flitted up to look at them both.

"Ven?" Terra and Aqua asked in unison.

Ven flapped his wings a few times, and righted himself. His clothes, too, hadn't changed. Just his skin color and additional appendages.

"Aqua, what are you doing to Terra?!" he yelped, summoning his own Keyblade before them.

"No, she **should **be careful," Terra said, thumping his tail on the ground, before realizing he even had one. His own attire was the same as before, modified only to account for wider chest and knobbier limbs. And a **tail**. His skin was ash-black and coated in thick scale plating, while Ven and Aqua both had more human looking skin, minus Ven's unusual coloration.

"Why should she? Look!"

Ven peered down the ledge, and the other two did the same. They were in a cave outcropping, above a park lit with large sun-lamps. A mix of children were playing below. Most looked like Aqua- human, save the ears, and he had to be looking for those. But there was one child, gurgling and throwing a ball, that looked like Terra did. Black, lizard skin, pointed ears, tail. And golden eyes.

Aqua's shoulders relaxed. "I guess this place is like Disney Town. There's multiple species that live here. And Terra's all have gold eyes and pointy ears."

"I think we **all **have pointy ears," Ven countered. Aqua touched her own.

"Huh," she said, mild surprise escaping her voice.

"You think we ended up in the right place?" Ven asked. "I think Riku would have mentioned seeing someone like me or Terra."

Aqua peered down again. About a good eighty percent were humanoid, save the pointed ears. The remaining ones were like Terra and Ven, as well as one lone grubby looking creature that was bouncing a fireball on its fingertips, scaring a little girl in a pink dress. Aqua was temporarily reminded of Lea and Kairi, as the little girl retaliated with a hard smack on the more lizard looking one.

"I think whatever you two are are the minority here," Aqua commented. "And Riku didn't have a lot of time to tell us. If we have cell signal here, I'd say it's worth exploring."

Terra dug his cell phone from his pants pocket. "We do."

"And a message from… Kairi." Ven said, adding Aqua and Terra's numbers to their message chain, before scrolling back up to read it.

"Well, Donald," Terra grunted, backing through everything they'd missed.

"Sora… is dead?" Ventus asked, paling. Or, whatever his species' version of it was, his face turning a light mint color.

"Well," Aqua frowned. "I never visited it myself, but Olympus did have an underworld."

Ven looked back and forth at his surroundings, noting the place was just cave for as far as the eye could see above them. "Aqua… Terra…" he said with a gulp. "I think… this might be one, too."

* * *

"Well," Terra said, dangling his legs over the park below them, "We need to see if this place is called Shibuya, then, don't we?"

"How do we do that without attracting attention?" Aqua asked. "If we just go up to someone and ask, they'll know something's wrong with us."

"You three!" This is a restricted area, how did you get past the barriers and barricades?" someone snipped. "My stuff is foolproof so you'd have a very very good reason."

All three heads turned, to see a centaur clopping towards them with a clipboard, followed by a woman in a green jumpsuit with pointed ears at about the same height… and two non-pointy-eared giants, both in sharp black suits, a child with a shock of black hair, and a bald adult. Terra, Aqua, and Ven scurried off the platform, hands outstretched defensively but trying to show they were unarmed- though that was secretly un-true. Even standing, the child was taller than Terra, and the adult was a beast of a man, head slightly ducked to avoid scraping the ceiling of the little outcropping.

"Names and district," the centaur and woman said in unison.

"Excuse me, Foaly, but which one of us is LEP?" the woman asked.

"I believe we both are," the centaur- Foaly- replied rolling his eyes.

"**You're**still a civilian," the woman sighed.

"Fair."

"Hello, I'm Aqua, this is Terra, and this is Ventus," Aqua said slowly. "We… um… aren't from around here."

"With that kind of magic, you sure as a dwarf's rear-end aren't," Foaly snipped.

Aqua frowned. At least the centaur detecting her magic made things way easier. "We're from there," she said, pointing. "And we're trying to find a place called Shibuya. Two of our friends were taken away."

"There?" Foaly asked. "The other side of that thing?"

"I told you it didn't look like Koboi's work," the giant-boy hissed. "She's too discrete or too showy. It would either have been **extremely**well hidden or dropped right in the middle of the main Haven plaza. Not above some suburban child's playground."

"Just… tell us if there's a Shibuya here," Aqua said, desperation in her voice. "Otherwise, we'll leave the way we came and you'll never hear a peep from us again. We just want to find our lost friends."

The woman in green inhaled deeply. "An exchange of information. Come back with us without resisting, and tell us what you know about that portal, and we'll talk."

Venuts dropped on the ground, flattening his wings and groveled in a full-body bow. "Please," he begged. "We'll do what you ask but only if a Shibuya is here. My friends might be dying. They might already be dead."

The centaur, lady in green, and two giants stood in silence, staring at Ventus for a good few seconds, before the giant-boy spoke, a mild matter-of-fact annoyance in his voice. "Shibuya is a sub-district of Tokyo, a metropolis. You're a continent and several miles below the crust of the earth away from it, but yes, Shibuya exists here. Now will you come with us, please?"

Ven got off the ground, and dusted off his clothes, grinning. "Yes!" he said, excitedly, on the trio's behalf.

* * *

Joshua disappeared in a crack of thunder, and the whole intersection seemed to exhale a massive, held breath. The Flood jumped, squeezing itself like a ferret around Sora's neck, curling into the back of his hood, almost knocking it off his face.

"If it's going to move around in there," Komaeda said, opening his belt-pouch, "I have hatpins to keep your hood in place."

"Why do we wear this stuff anyway?" Sora asked.

"Because that's about to happen," Komaeda replied, pointing to Vanitas plowing his way through the Scramble, completely ignoring the cars phasing through him. Riku's replica panicked slightly, summoned a sword from nothing, and raced after.

Riku snorted. "My Replica's got his powers and Vanitas is just full of hot air. I can't wait to see this."

"What, Vanitas relying on someone else to save him?" Sora asked innocently.

"You!" Vanitas shouted, screaming down Sora. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Riku asked, trying not to laugh as he lowered his voice to a gruff drawl.

"My Unversed. I can sense it."

Sora's hoodie wiggled aggressively, and the Flood's nose popped out, without actually making the hood fall off Sora's face.

"Fucker, get back here."

The Unversed chirped, sticking its head out but keeping the rest inside Sora's clothing.

"If you want it back, fight me for it," Sora said, trying to disguise his voice and failing horribly. He just needed to channel his inner asshole like Riku or Joshua. Too bad it took one look at Sora's heart, complained about the furniture, and fled for more jerky waters.

"Now see here, you little shit," Vanitas hissed, grabbing Sora's sweatshirt, but with very little force at all. Sora let him get in his face, and tried to keep his head down, lest he just start laughing from the absurdity of it all. "You did something to me while that hellbeast-angel-whatever thing was talking to me. I don't know what it was, but give me back my Unversed and if you -**ever**\- try that again… my servant's gonna floor you. Isn't that right?"

"Servant?" Riku asked, snorting. "You mean the half of your team that can actually fi-"

"Here you go!" Sora chirped, dropping his own acting and fishing the Unversed out of his coat. "But only if you're nice to it."

"What. The. Fuck," Vanitas asked with a growl, the Unversed returning back to his shadow.

Vanitas blinked a few times, and took a deep breath, the growl gone from his voice. "Sora?" he asked quietly, looking back at his shadow as it bubbled a little, the Flood popping its head up from it for a moment before returning back to its master. "Am I dead?"

Komaeda facepalmed. "This is why we cover up, gentlemen," he hissed. "Because eventually you're going to run into someone you knew when you were alive."

Vanitas shook a little, and Riku's shoulders fell. "Yes, Vanitas, you're dead. So are we. But how did you know he was Sora?"

Riku's replica just stared at the small group dismissing the sword when he realized they weren't actually in danger. "I thought I'd just fade off. I'm not even a person, how am I in the afterlife?"

"Friend," Riku said, gently to his replica. "You have your own soul, and it clearly counted enough for you to be here."

Vanitas cut in. "The Unversed are part of me," he said, answering Riku's question with no further elaboration. "But how the fuck did you two get offed? Or are you not dead? It makes some kinda sick sense that you're our wardens in Hell."

"Well, now you know," Riku replied. "And yes, warden's a good word for this. If you survive a week here, you'll get resurrected, though."

"Really?" Riku's replica asked. "But… I'm not a-"

"Do you need your ears cleaned?" Vanitas snapped at him, the Flood coming back out of his shadow, tugging on his leg. "Oh, fuck, fine," he growled down at it. "Your original said you're obviously enough of your own person to be here."

"Which means the same for you, Vanitas," Sora cut in.

"Fuck you too," Vanitas spat. His Flood whined. "What? You want more pets or something, you pansy?"

Sora desperately wanted to tell Vanitas that meant he probably wanted to be touched without fear of being hit or slashed at, but bit his tongue. He knew enough to see Vanitas was coming around, if only by a hair. The last thing he needed was to trigger him further.

"You two do know they're not lying about what you have to do today," Komaeda said quietly, looking past them and at the other forty-something dead, starting to pair off and experiment with entering the pocket dimensions of Noise. "if you don't try and search for the person you're assigned in the next six hours, you're Erased. That's **dead for good**. Knowing your… I don't want to call you all friends, because you clearly **aren't**… your acquaintances are your wardens doesn't change that."

"So how do we search?" Vanitas asked with bite.

"Explore the city," Komaeda replied, shrugging. "And you can speak Japanese now, so you can talk to anyone dressed like us or have wings. Anyone else can't see you."

Vanitas huffed. "Easy enough. Come on, Riku #2."

"Wait," Riku said, quietly. "He needs his own name. Don't call him Number Two or some other… not name."

"Well, there can't be two Rikus, either," Sora provided, cheerfully. Vanitas actually snorted.

"You called him friend," Komaeda offered. "Tomo is a boy's name, though it's not a common one."

"It's as good as **Hey, You**, so fine; Tomo," Vanitas said, glaring at his partner, as they walked off, almost immediately smacking into the barrier.

"Um, scuse me, wardens, what the ever-loving fuck?" Vanitas asked.

"Oh yeah," Riku added, smirking internally. "We put that up. We're a checkpoint. If you beat us in battle we'll lower the barrier for you."

"And if we lose?"

Komaeda swept his hand to the rest of the group, practicing fighting the Noise. "Get strongerl, come back."

"So, you're saying we can't move on until we've pasted the floor with your corpses."

Sora shuddered a bit, but shrugged. "Basically."

"We literally can't move on until we've beaten your asses."

"That's how it works," Riku added, nodding. "But you've been knocked down to zero, so you might need some practice."

Vanitas grinned cracking his knuckles. "Don't care, this is going to be the most satisfying thing I've done in a long, looooong while."


	8. pubcrawl

"Are you sure?" Sora asked Vanitas, crossing his arms.

"I did say 'fight me'."

"You mean us," Riku replied. "You still have to fight in pairs."

"Don't care," Vanitas grumbled. "I just want to smack you a new one."

"Komaeda?" Sora turned. "What now, do we just fight?"

"Strike out with some Noise and it'll make a pocket dimension for you," he replied. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to actually challenge you guys so soon."

Vanitas snorted. "You guys can stop faking being new at-"

The world went white for all four of them, as Riku initiated one of his Noise pins.

Sora was back in the middle of the lifeless version of the Scramble, Vanitas scowling, kicking a pole.

"The **fuck**?"

"Whenever you fight Noise, or one of us, I guess, you get sent to a pocket dimension like this," Sora explained. Seeing the world devoid of everything except them, he wiggled loose his kerchief and dropped his hood.

Vanitas frowned. "Stop stealing his face and voice, you ass," he screamed, and and went in for a right hook straight to Sora's jaw.

Sora barely felt a thing.

"Sora. Wouldn't. Die. Like. That!" Vanitas screamed, as he continued to wail on him.

"I… k-k-killed Xehanort," Sora eventually choked out. "He's gone. For good."

Vanitas froze mid punch. "You stopped the old bastard?" He dropped his arm and stared at it, not wanting to look Sora in his now brownish-black eyes.

"We did, together. He… he did make the X-blade first though."

Vanitas unclenched his fist, and relaxed a little. His shadow bubbled behind him, and the little Flood squealed, popping its head out from it.

"Scram, the adults are talking," he hissed at it.

"Actually," Sora said. "That is weird."

"You need to be a bit more specific, a lot of things are weird right now."

"Riku and Tomo should be on the other plane fighting at the same time we are. But I don't hear them. Do you hear Tomo?"

"I'm guessing you're supposed to, then?" Vanitas asked, cocking a hip.

"Yeah. Maybe it doesn't work like that when its people-on-people, though. When you fight the Noise, you feel each others pain, and hear them too. And I don't feel anything from Riku."

"So we have the place to ourselves?" Vanitas asked.

Sora shrugged. "I died last night. I'm still figuring this out."

Vanitas slumped to sit on a curb, his Flood re-appearing and crawling into his lap. "So then, how **did**you get offed?"

"You still don't think I'm really Sora, do you?" Sora replied, sitting down next to him.

"Given I ended up in Hell, no," Vanitas bit at him.

"Okay… so why wouldn't I have blue eyes and brown hair?"

"You're avoiding my question, Warden."

"The last piece of the X-blade was Kairi," Sora breathed out, kicking a stray broken piece of curb. "I abused the power of Waking to pull her back out, so… here I am." Sora unwrapped the Velcro cloth on his hand, showing off his own timer. "I'm not technically one of them, but I'm not normal dead like you either."

Vanitas opened his own hand, seeing the time burned through his glove.. bodysuit… thing.

05:42, and ticking down, to Sora's infinity.

Sora tugged at the wig. "The Angels put this on with Superglue or something," he whined, before feeling a finger rub under the side of the wig, pulling the elastic. Vanitas peeked.

"They really wouldn't go through all this trouble to give me my own personal demon, would they?"

"Oh, they probably would," Sora replied, as Vanitas snapped the elastic back. "But I guess since Riku and I were already here…"

"How'd he get offed?"

Sora inhaled deeply. Riku and his replica weren't on this plane, and it didn't seem as though they could feel or hear them, either.

"You know how you lost your powers?"

"Don't fucking remind me."

"They take away the thing you value most as your fee to play. If you win your life back, you get the thing you lost back, too."

"So what does this have to do with how Riku died?"

"What was Tomo's entry fee?"

"Oh this is **rich**," Vanitas replied with a laugh. "Inferiority complex much? So I'm guessing Riku didn't lose anything himself?"

"Just his life." As if the 'just' wasn't huge on its own.

"You?"

"I… cheated."

Vanitas howled in laughter. "Course you did."

"Not on purpose! Luxord gave me something when he diii- when he was about to be recompleted. I don't care about it, but it's apparently worth… a… lot…" Sora realized, as he stared out at nothing. "**More than two souls worth**…" he added with a whisper.

* * *

"Seems like you just missed 'em," an old man said to Xion, Roxas, and Ienzo, as they got off the bus at the theater, frantically asking around, showing Walter's lock screen photo to anyone who cared to give them the time of day. "I saw those three leave in a heck of a hurry."

"Do you know what happened?" Ienzo asked the old man politely.

"No idea. Honestly, my suggestion is to go bring that phone of yours down to the police. They should be able to issue a lost and found report for you."

"Yeah," Ienzo said, dropping a little. "Thank you."

The phone began to buzz violently, and while Ienzo couldn't unlock it, he could, to his surprise, pick up the phone call.

"Hello?" the other line asked.

"Walter, is that you?" Ienzo said, concerned. "I think we swapped phones."

"Oh, good, you do have it… um, what's your name?"

"Ienzo."

"I… er, sorry. Didn't think you were American. Your phones been buzzing like crazy with texts but I can't read them. I am so sorry Ienzo, but I'm a bit preoccupied right now. They're going to tear down Muppet Studios!"

"The big old theater?" Roxas asked, piping in.

"Yeah."

"Seems like this place meant a lot to you," Xion added.

"…yeah…" Walter added quietly. "It did. But the old owner can buy the place back, if they have enough money to renegotiate the contract."

Ienzo looked down at his sweatshirt pocket, bulging with money he'd never need again. "We… might be able to help?" he offered. "We… erm. We did a little street performance and earned… how much did we get, all told?"

"I think it was over a hundred. Don't know if that's a lot or a little though," Roxas added.

The phone went quiet, and the trio heard shuffling, before a new voice took over the line.

"Um, hello," the mellow voice started. "I'm Kermit. I used to run that theater. How long were you busking, exactly?"

"Couldn't have been more than five minutes, before we were told to move."

"You made a hundred busking in five- huh." Kermit went quiet. "Were you three doing a choreographed fight scene over by Park Street?"

The trio looked at each other. "Um, yes?" Xion replied.

"Impressive special effects."

"Er, thanks, Kermit, sir," Roxas piped in.

"You were all over the news. How about this, you meet us at the theater, and we'll gladly accept the help."

"And swap our phones back!" Walter added, a bit distant sounding.

"We don't have anything better to do right now, anyway. We're looking for some friends."

"Oh? And where are they? I've got friends of mine all over. I can pull a few favors of my own."

"That's the thing. I don't know. I was texting them when our phones got switched," Ienzo added. "I'm guessing he's texting back."

"Well, when we meet, you can read them!" Walter interjected again. "See you soon!"

"See you-"

The line went dead.

"Talk about excitable," Xion said, looking at Walter's phone.

Ienzo sighed. "Well, it looks like the theater has a tour, we might as well go check it out before they come back, no?"

* * *

"Lea says there's a Shibuya where they are," Donald said, eyeing his phone while Goofy, the far more diplomatic of the two of them, walked off to go talk with the pub owner about the monsters.

Another message went through the group chat, someone had thankfully added in the trio of older Keyblade Wielders.

"The local police told us there's a Shibuya here," Donald read aloud.

"Didn't they enter two totally different portals?" Demyx asked. Donald nodded.

"Both the Beast's world and Quasimodo's had a place called Paris, though."

"Oh, right," Demyx said sighing. "So not only do we have to find Shibuya, we have to find the **right**Shibuya. **Joy**."

"Shibuya?" came an uptight-sounding voice behind them. "You mean the central district of Insomnia?"

"I mean the…" Demyx started. "**Maybe**."

"**Maybe**? You do or you don't," a sullen looking young man said, shoving a French fry in his mouth.

"We're looking for a Shibuya, but… ours shouldn't be bombed," Donald said carefully.

"Yeah, and neither should ours," another member of the table next to them griped. Demyx recognized him as the kid with the chocobos when he'd originally scouted the place. "Doesn't mean it isn't. This is a shit time to go sightseeing."

"Manners," said another blonde, older, with glasses- the one who had originally spoken. "And feet off the table, Prompto, that's hardly becoming. Noctis, eat a vegetable. **Any**vegetable."

"Potatoes are vegetables."

"They are a **starch**, Noctis."

Demyx frowned, remembering the words of the innkeeper. "Your Highness!" he hissed.

The three of them looked at each other in a panic. "Pay and go," said Glasses, sternly, glaring at Demyx. For a moment, he thought he was being told to leave, but he saw the blonde and black haired boys get out of their chairs in a hurry.

"Waitwaitwait… we're not here to pick a fight!" Demyx insisted, hands flailing.

"And if we were, we'd have already won," Donald added, setting his hand on fire and snuffing it just as fast.

"What was that about **order**?" Demyx said with a laugh.

"They did mention magic exists here," Donald huffed.

The other trio just looked at the two of them. "See, I can't for the life of me tell if you were attempting to threaten us, or reassure us," Noctis growled, taking a seat again. His retainers followed suit, eyeing them warily.

"Well, this is where I'd offer to pay for your food for the misunderstanding," Donald said, a bit sheepish, "but we're not from around here, and I'm not sure this is acceptable."

Donald spilled a handful of munny on their table.

"At the very least, a jeweler would want to look at this," Glasses said, eyeing the gems. "**Fascinating**. Never seen anything like it before."

"Just don't try and cook with it," Prompto snickered under his breath.

"I've never seen anyone use magic like you," Glasses said, eyeing Donald curiously. "And if you're insisting, the name is Ignis. The one without manners is Prompto," he added, gesturing at the blonde. "And the one without a balanced diet is… as you said he was."

"Well, what does magic look like here?"

Prompto held up a small grenade. "This."

"Ours is a bit different," Demyx said, smirking, summoning his sitar Arpeggio from the air.

"Armiger?" Prince Noctis hissed quietly as Demyx strummed a tune on his summoned instrument, the liquid in the glasses of water and juice on their tables dancing to the music.

"Wild," Prompto said, eyes wide.

"I'll bite," Ignis said. "So you're not from around here and you're trying to get to Shibuya. I hope you understand what a colossally idiotic notion that is?"

"If it's in Insomnia…" Demyx said, eyebrow raised as Goofy and another man- a beast that reminded Demyx roughly of Xal- no, Dilan- returned, holding a stack of flyers each. "I'm assuming it's suicide."

"New friends?" the beast asked, pointing a thumb at Demyx and Donald.

"Maybe, if they shared their names," Ignis said, side-eyeing them as Prompto hastily pocketed his magic grenade before the larger man saw him playing with it.

"Demyx, lazy-ass musician," he said, with a strum, making the glasses' liquids swirl.

"Donald, mage," he said, crystallizing the water in front of him to ice.

"Maximillian, knight," Goofy said, sitting down with his companions. "I don't have anything flashy like these two, a'hyuck."

"**Maximillian**?" Donald asked, incredulously.

"Goof is my last name, you didn't know? And given my new friend here is Gladiolus, it made sense. Their language is the ancient form of ours!" Goofy said, excitedly.

"Never pegged you as an anthropologist," Demyx said under his breath. "Would explain why I understand some of it without the magic translation though…"

"Hm?" Goofy asked.

"**Nothing**."

Goofy just shook his head. "Anyway. Bounties. We need money and that means Gil here."

"You're actually going to take some of those on?" Noctis asked, eyebrow raised. "I mean, you guys have some nice parlor tricks, but good luck with those."

"Said the same thing," Gladiolus gruffed. "Max is crazy."

"Maximillian or Goofy," Goofy replied, shuffling through them. "My son is Max."

"You have a **son**?" Demyx asked.

"37thin the line," Goofy said distracted. "Trainin' in the reserve guard, like I did when I was his age. Kid just wants to make music though, he's a lot like you. Think if he's still got his mind set on it by the end of the apprenticeship year, I'll call him the winner and let him quit. He's got quite an ear for the guitar."

"Learn something new every day," Demyx said, frowning over the papers. "So which one of these is weak to magic?"

"The more armored they are, the more susceptible," Ignis said, frowning. "I still think you're making extremely poor life decisions."

"Or easy death decisions," Prompto added, sarcastically.

"How does this work?"

Noctis rolled his eyes. "Go up, accept the hunt, and kill the thing. Bring back proof. A horn, a tail, whatever. Most shopkeepers pay for monster meat and bones too. You really aren't from around here."

"Doesn't mean we're out of practice. There's just no system like this where we're from," Donald said, grabbing the flyer of a particularly armored creature. "This should cover a few nights at the inn, plus food."

"Aw man, and here I was, going to slack off."

"We are two mages and a physical fighter, Demyx," Goofy said sharpy as Donald went to negotiate with the barkeep. "I can support from the rear."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. At least I'm not benched for once."

"Gladio, which one are we going after?" Prompto asked, fiddling with a device.

"Nothing says we can't take the same bounty."

"Hey," Demyx whined. "We need the money and are totally going after it first."

"And the kid we're babysitting needs some practice with his magic," Gladiolus countered. "We won't split the reward, fair? So long as you let us harvest some of the corpse."

Demyx twitched. "Magic practice my ass. You don't want to see us get killed."

"Oh, no, I'm popping popcorn and watching the show," Prompto said, laughing, as the device- a camera, loosed a flash in his face.

"Consider me curious," Gladiolus replied. "Your friend there knew our code."

"You carry yourself like a knight, it only made sense," Goofy interjected. "And my family's been in the business for centuries."

Gladio snorted. "Race you to see who can bag it first."

Demyx leaned forward in his chair. "Loser buys winner dinner."

"You don't have money," Noctis said, plainly.

"You said we could pawn off monster bones. We'll kill enough to trade in if you win. Which you won't."

"Oh, you're **on**," Prompto said, smirking.

"Children, **please**," Ignis whined. "Though I'm not adverse to a little friendly competition."

Donald returned, with a small typed note.

"That the info on this nasty?" Demyx asked.

"It only comes out at-"

"No, you're giving the enemy too much info!" Demyx cried, slapping a hand over Donald's mouth.

"Ehnummy?" Donald asked, rasped and behind Demyx's fingers.

Goofy already had his coat on and was holding open the door. "C'mon! Let's go!"

"I… what?" Donald cried, slightly confused, as Demyx practically dragged him to the exit.

* * *

"Willpower?" Vanitas said, crossing his arms. "After all that, you're actually going to teach me how to kick your ass?"

"Well, yeah, I don't want you to get Erased. And you two have to get past us two."

"I just… cannot believe you." Vanitas shook his head. "So what, I should have some pins? You mean these things?"

Vanitas opened his palm, showing Sora five metal pins.

Every face was blank.

"Yeah, but… yours don't have any designs on them. Weird. Look at mine." Sora showed the pins attached to his sweatshirt, the five weak tutorial pins plus the red-cross revival pin affixed to his hood.

"Maybe the ones they give us are different?" Vanitas asked. "Worth a try using one."

Vanitas closed his eyes, and focused on one of the pins in his hand. "Shouldn't something be happening by now? I got played," he growled, low, his Flood skittering around at his feet. "Show me how you use one."

Sora focused on his basic fire pin, shooting out a burst of flame. Vanitas's Flood chittered excitedly, ran up, and jumped in the fire.

"You id-" Vanitas started, before the flames disappeared completely. Sora tried to summon them again, before looking down at the pins attached right by his heart.

The pin that had been his fire pin was now completely blank.

Sora blinked. "Noise is people's emotions," he said slowly. "So are the Unversed. You can literally eat the Noise."

Vanitas grinned, and cracked his knuckles. "So I don't have to lay a finger on you to kick your ass then?" he said, looking down at his Flood. "You hungry, short stack?"

It chittered, skittering to perch on Vanitas's shoulder.

"I wouldn't be so smug," Sora said quietly. "And I apologize, because you're either going to win this fight by breaking all my pins or…"

"Or?"

"I'm about to knock you into next week," Sora finished, activating another pin.

* * *

Vanitas groaned. Sora was back to being fully covered up, and bent over him. He offered a hand up, while the two Riku- no, Riku and Tomo- stood behind him with Komaeda.

"I… should be invincible…"

"What did you tell me on Metropolis?" Sora asked him, as Vanitas's Flood nudged him to get off his butt.

"The Unversed come from negativity."

"And what are the Noise?"

"Emotions."

"Is that the same thing?" Riku asked him. "What about… oh… I don't know, this literal ball of sunshine?" he said, slapping Sora on the shoulder.

"You knocked me out… with a happy bomb?" Vanitas groaned.

"Pretty much," Sora replied, chipper.

"How am I supposed to fight **that**? I can't even use your stupid pins because this asshole eats them."

Riku swept his hand behind him, back to the main part of the scramble.

"This is why you learn something called **teamwork**. Now get up, and practice."


	9. yellow eyed possessing world ender

_**Happy Beam is a real TWEWY pin. It's a Natural Puppy brand pin with 15 strikes before a refill. It's also really cute looking and was one of my early game mainstays in my TWEWY run. The pin Vanitas broke is the Unbranded starter pin Pyrokinesis (yes, it's just called Pyrokinesis). No fancy names or image. It's just a red flame symbol. If this means nothing to you, Brands will make sense later. I'm not going to introduce the fashion mechanic of TWEWY until it becomes important to this plot… because it does.**_

_**For those wondering about the almost month long hiatus between 4 and 5, I was sitting down with a flow chart trying to match up all my timing and lore and who does what where and when. The story's not totally written out in advance, per se, but I have all the plot beats set more or less in stone. I got myself into this mess by making it a multi chaptered fic with over 50 characters, and I will dig myself out of that or die trying.**_

_**Also, since I don't think I've mentioned this before, I am legally blind. I'm sure this thing has typos up the wazoo (I did spot a Metropolis instead of Monstropolis I need to fix), and I could really, really use a beta reader/editor. If anyone wants to help I am all ears.**_

_**I will also be speaking at PAX East next week. I'm a roboticist by day and I teach cosplay electronics. So if you're there, look for a Lea/Roxas/Kirumi (from Danganronpa) cosplayer with a blind cane, and my panel is Saturday at noon in Arachnid Theater. That also means a hiatus next week. You might get one more chapter before I go, and I'll be typing on the flights to get you all another when I get back.**_

* * *

"Just so you know, Sora."

"Hm?" Sora asked, perking up as a pair of nervous souls slowly approached them for their first actual barrier fight.

"Tomo and I just sat and listened. He's got his own issues to work through, but fighting isn't one of them, so when we heard Vanitas yelling at you, I shushed him and we just waited."

"You… heard the whole thing." It wasn't a question.

Riku gave a gentle nod. "But it's strange. Vanitas was never that… angry. Not that I can say I knew him well, but…"

"I don't think he was angry, Riku. I held that Unversed he spawned. You know how cats puff up and hiss when they're cornered? He's acting like that because he's **scared**."

Riku snorted and patted the top of Sora's hood. "You know people's hearts better than anyone. If you think he's scared, I wouldn't doubt it."

"I mean…" Sora said, downcast, noting the pair were now likely in eavesdropping range. "We'll talk after."

"You two!" Riku gruffed at the freshly dead, a young man and woman in summer clothes, who held each other's hands, looking terrified at the Reapers. "You gonna just stand there with your mouths open or are you gonna fight us?"

The man looked meekly down at his shoes but the woman sneered at Riku. "You fuckers are going down. I'm ripping my life back from you."

Sora gulped. The man might not be that strong by Underground machinations, but thanks to that woman's motivation, strikes from her were going to hurt something fierce.

Being a tutorial boss was going to **suck**.

* * *

Lea wiped the humid sweat off his brow, as he knelt along the molding of the twin's room with Ford's paste and a bag of unicorn hair. Unicorn hair, which, as Grenda had said, really **was**covered in their blood. How the girls fought and obtained an entire tail's worth was beyond him. He'd only seen one once, about a year into being in the Organization, and that hellbeast had kicked him hard enough in the ribs to put him out of commission for a week, even with Vexen's continual application of Cure spells and snide remarks for good measure.

The redhead Wendy did tell him they hadn't actually killed the thing, just maimed it. Severely. With her axe.

He liked the young lady, smiled at the thought of unicorn directed revenge, and got back on all fours to shift a bedpost and keep gluing the ward to the house.

"Ford, do you want any of my spells too?" he yelled out the open window to the older dimension hopper, doing the same outside the house in the rapidly setting summer sun.

"What you got?" Ford yelled up.

"I know a few anti-darkness runes. Mickey's the light mage among us, though."

"If you think it'll help, I'll take it," Ford yelled back.

"So who is this demon anyway? Must have you pretty worked up to go through this much trouble."

"Can't hear you," Ford hollered.

Lea sighed, finished lining the final piece of wall he was working on, and looked out the window down at Ford in the dirt.

In the blink of an eye, he stood next to him, holding out the paper bag of remaining tail hair. "Attic's done."

Ford clutched his heart for a moment. "Stop that," he muttered. "My brother's right, you're going to give one of us a stroke."

"Old habits," Lea admitted.

"You're the only one who can do that. I know Mickey can't and your lady friend Kairi said the same. Are you a human or…?"

"I was… I was a demon once," Lea said, crouching next to Ford to help with the outside of the giant house-slash-tourist trap. "When I regained my humanity, some of my powers stayed."

Ford clenched his jaw. "Now, not all demons and specters and spooks are bad, and the fact you can touch unicorn hair says you're nothing malicious."

"So this was a test, too," Lea said snorting, disappearing back upstairs to go grab his can of paste, returning in the blink of an eye. "I get it. You're wary of strangers with strange powers. I was afraid of myself too, when I turned human again. Thought one little slip and I'd go back to being a monster. A real monster, not… that fluffy thing we showed you."

"Monsters don't have to look like ahem 'monsters'. My nephew ran into some in the forest that were perfectly kind, if a bit different on the morals."

"The Multi-Bear?" Lea asked with a chuckle. "He sounds like Sulley… Er, a friend. Dipper's been running around showing us his book. Kid's got an eye for this stuff."

"I know. I'm going to ask him tomorrow if he'll apprentice under me," Ford said, after a long silence. "It's getting dark. We can finish this come morning."

"Oh, perfect," Lea said, looking at the setting sun. "My magic's best at twilight. I'll start coating the house in runes for you."

"Thank you, Lea. And… if it's not too much trouble, would you be able to start a fire? We've got more people than expected, so a hot dog roast outside makes the most sense."

"Ask Kairi. I've been training her and she needs the practice."

"Is she your apprentice?"

Lea laughed. "Heck no. We both are apprentices to another mage. I just have about two decades of pyrokinesis on her."

"So if I asked you all if you could chill the air in the house?"

"**Mickey**," Lea said, with a wave of his hand. "I can barely freeze a cup of water."

* * *

Lea sighed, pacing with a long branch he'd unceremoniously ripped from a pine tree. Terrible kindling for a bonfire, but perfect as a makeshift stave. He'd never had an audience before, and suddenly he had a small army of kids, teens, and an amused Mickey and Ford watching while Stan was grumbling over Kairi's magically conjured fire, setting up a grate to grill things for dinner. Lea smiled. The man was gruff, but actually very kind under the surface.

Lea found a spot, good enough as any, and slowly walked in a tight circle, dragging the branch to make a larger rune in the dirt.

He squatted in the center, and began whipping the branch around to gather in as much mana as he could muster, surprised as to how quickly he felt full. He could feel the edges of his hair begin to spark, from the back of his neck to his arms, even his eyelashes. There was a **lot**of magic in these woods. If he had a mirror, he'd guess he'd be glowing by now, but a few gasps from the peanut gallery told him as much.

He **really **didn't like having an audience.

"Kyaaaah," Lea yelled, if only to channel the massive, unexpected overflow, before he began pushing the magic back out of him, plastering the ground around them with an interlocking array of sigils.

As quick as he'd started, it was over, with scorch marks etched in the dirt all around them. Lea exhaled, feeling the last of the sparks escape his mouth and ears.

"**Wicked**," Wendy said, nodding approvingly when he opened his eyes. "Very metal."

"Do we have to walk around all of them?" Dipper asked nervously, looking at one of the sigils that had burned the ground below his foot, without doing any damage to his sneakers.

"What, nah, and actually, kicking the dirt back so people don't know they're there would be even better," Lea said, with a shrug and a smile. "Don't want this demon of yours to know this place is hexed up."

"Oh! Good," Dipper said, looking relieved.

"Can we pour water on it to hide it?" Mabel asked.

"Smart thinking," Lea said, nodding. "The magic's already there, so yes, you can."

"I'VE GOT THE HOSE!" Mabel shouted, running towards the taps.

"What, no, I wanna do it!" Dipper huffed, chasing after his twin.

* * *

"Owwwww," Sora muttered, peeling himself off the pavement and healing himself by chugging one of the little cans of carbonated potion Joshua had stocked in his pouch that morning. It tasted a lot better than anything from back home.

Riku helped him back on his feet, and he shook out his sore wings.

"You can go," Sora said, trying to deepen his voice, frowning when he couldn't make himself gruff like Riku.

"You're… just a kid…" the woman said, kneeling a little to look into Sora's hood and at his eyes. "Oh my god, you're a kid. Are you okay?"

Sora's shoulders fell a little. He couldn't pretend to be mean to these people. "Yeah, I'm fine, that was a pretty good laser burst you had, ma'am. I think you'll be fine in the streets past us."

"Wait, no, no, no. I'm not just leaving you here to get beat up by everyone else."

"Ma'am," Riku cut in. "That's kind of our job."

"You, **quiet**," the woman hissed, turning to fuss over Sora. She must have thought Riku was much older than he, even though they were just barely a year apart. His fake voice certainly didn't help.

"Ma'am m, really, it's okay. And these are for you two," he added, fishing out their pin sets. "Please do your mission, and I hope you get your lives back!"

The woman looked at the reward, and patted Sora's hood. "So you guys aren't all assholes. Good to know. Thank you." She glared once more at Riku, looked at the pins she had on her purse strap, and swapped one out for one of the ones Sora gave her.

"I'll use this one, okay?"

The man with her carefully threaded his fingers in hers, and off they went, down a side street.

Komaeda looked down at Sora's sweatshirt. "Hey '**Youta'**."

When Sora didn't reply to his fake name, Komaeda nudged him.

"'Youta'-I-Mean-Sora. You're fighting with a broken pin. Go call in another one, I'll pair with ahem-'Daiki'. Did you get Eri's number?"

"No, but I need to call Joshua, anyway," Sora said quietly.

"On the clock? Not a great idea unless it's something really serious."

"Actually, it is," Sora said gravely.

"You do you, just don't waste his time."

* * *

The woman in green- one Holly Short- led the small entourage down off the outcropping and to a vehicle. "Pile in boys… er, and girl."

Aqua laughed. "I'm guessing you're the only woman in your area of expertise, too?"

Holly groaned. "Tell me about it."

Foaly slid into the front, and started up the vehicle. Ventus peeked out the window.

"Hey, we're flying!"

"Odd choice of words for someone with wings," the giant boy chuckled.

"Well, I can fly, but," Ventus started, before realizing the kid had him in a mental corner. "We did say we came from the other side of the portal," he pouted.

"We have cars, and airplanes, but nothing this small that can just fly like this," Terra clarified.

"Ha-ha!" called Foaly from the driver's space- less a seat and more a bench for the four legged driver-slash- pilot. "Another sub-dimension with primitive tech, boy are you all missing out."

"A…nother?" Terra asked.

The giant child sighed, and took off his mirrored sunglasses, cleaning them with his eyes held shut. "You three really aren't playing stupid."

"What kind of proof would you need that we don't know a thing about this place?" Aqua asked him, watching the adult giant squirm to sit, in a vehicle that was clearly not designed for his size.

Artemis frowned. "That's actually a tough question. If we asked you about here, well, you can just pretend to not know. Why don't you tell me about your missing friends then?"

Ventus nodded. "We're looking for two teenage boys. I'd say one of them looks like me, a bit, but uhmmmmm…"

"Uhm what?" the giant boy asked, eyebrow raised. He sat leaning forward in his seat, steepling his fingers.

"Can I show him my phone?" Ventus asked Aqua and Terra.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," Aqua said with a gentle smile.

Ventus pulled out his phone, and scooted in his seat down to the giant-boy.

He frowned. "Hm," was all he managed to say, but found something interesting.

"Please show me this photo of your friend," he added after a pause. Ventus quickly navigated to his photos, and flipped through his images. "Here. This is one of the only photos I have of both myself and Sora. Riku… I have, but not **with **him."

"**Of **yourself?" The giant boy looked at Ventus's face. "You're.. the one on the left. A human?"

"Yeah… we're all humans.." Ventus admitted, flipping to another shot of the three of them. "But when we move to new worlds, we change to match what makes the most sense. I don't even know what I am right now. Some kind of flying goblin?"

"You're a sprite," the giant clarified. "The woman-"

"Aqua."

"Aqua is an elf, and…"

"Terra."

"Is a demon."

Terra panicked.

"That isn't a negative statement, Terra. Just another species. As I am human."

"But you're… gigantic! You have to be at least seven feet tall!"

The vehicle went silent, as Foaly parked, before the giant boy began to laugh hysterically. "Seven feet? How tall do you think you are, Ventus?"

"I'm about five-two or so?"

"You couldn't be an inch over **three**. Feet."

* * *

"Wait, but why is everything the right size?" Ventus asked, following the group through the police station.

"You're in a fairy city. Butler and I are the odd ones out. Oh, and where are my manners. I am Artemis Fowl. The second."

"What's with the sudden change, Artemis?" Aqua asked quietly.

"Ventus's phone."

"What about it?" Ventus asked. "And Just Ven is fine."

"It wasn't in any language I've ever seen. Not human, not fairy, not demon. I have no reason to doubt you three are from the other side of that portal."

"Artemis, why didn't you say so earlier?" Holly looked at him confused. "You wouldn't hold out on people that need your help. Well, not anymore, at least."

"Because I was confirming something else."

"And you're not going to say what that is?"

Artemis grinned. "No, I will not. But these three might help you with your other problem."

Holly stopped walking, turned on her heel, and looked sharply up at Artemis. "You must have an extremely good reason for trusting three complete strangers."

"Of course I do."

Holly looked at their three newest. "So you two are here to rescue someone in Shibuya- two someones- and leave the way you came?"

"Yes, we promise. We will happily accept an escort and guard if that means we can get there," Aqua insisted, always the diplomat.

Holly nodded. "Well, you're not the first that's come through. We… might need your help."

"With what?"

"There's a spring in one of the residential districts. It's… probably faster to show you, but, it's…"

"Infested." Artemis said, sharply. "It's why I was down here in the first place. No fairy magic can cleanse the pollution it's causing, but when I saw something on your images… I think you might be able to help."

Aqua, Terra and Ventus looked at each other. "Sora said he was working, which means he's fine for now," Aqua hissed. "And if we help, maybe we'll get some in return. Shibuya sounds far and none of us can make dark corridors like Lea or Isa."

The boys nodded, and prepared to turn heel when a loud alarm blared.

Holly winced. "Not now. For once I don't want an emergency surface mission…" she muttered.

"What is it?" Artemis asked her.

"Massive magical use. Near human homes. It's out in America though, so that's… not my team."

"Something bad?"

Holly shrugged. "I can't take care of every mudman problem in the whole world, Artemis. Whoever is closest to wherever it is will look into it. Let's deal with our problem closer to home?"

Artemis smiles and nodded. "Sometimes the entire LEPRecon team feels like just you, Vinyaya, Commander Kelp, and Foaly. I forget you've got plenty of other fairies who can get the job done. Maybe not as well as you, though," he added, smugly.

"Okay, Artemis, what do you want?"

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked innocently, as they turned back out the front door and Holly led them on a brisk walk down a new part of the city.

"You gave me a compliment."

"Compliments are free."

"Not Fowl ones."

* * *

"So, Ford," Lea said, eyeing him as he tried to figure out balancing a plate on his knee with a can of soda in one hand and a hot dog in the other. "What kind of demon. You seem to be avoiding talking about it."

Ford sighed, and set his paper plate to one side. "**Cipher**. Dimension hopper. World eater. He gets in your head. You can tell he's possessed someone when their eyes turn gold and their pupils blow out."

"Xehanort," Lea hissed.

"What?"

"Xehanort," Lea said louder. "Almost destroyed our universe, possessed my best friend."

"You've… how…" Ford stiffened. "But you say it in past tense."

"Yeah. The two kids we're looking for? Sora and Riku? Sora finally took him down."

"Are you telling me Bill Cipher is **dead**? When did this happen?"

"A week ago our time. Which… might have been months here. If two hours is a week, that would have been… twelve weeks to a day times seven… more than a year, if time is consistent across dimensions. But it isn't, so it could have been two weeks ago for you all, or ten years. The only thing we can guarantee is time moves forwards, and it moves consistently within the same world."

"Was this Xehanort person a one eyed triangle?"

Lea blinked, and then howled with laughter. "Not even close. Guessing each our dimensions had some ass with a similar modus operandi?"

"Well, at least **one**golden eyed body possessing world ender is out of the picture," Ford said with a chuckle and a sigh. "Get some sleep after this. We'll need to finish tomorrow at first light. Kairi's small enough to take the couch in the living room, I have an old storage room that you and Mickey could use, if you don't mind sharing. There's also the trailer," he added, pointing out to the haphazardly parked car and RV.

"That's up to him. I don't have a preference, as long as I have a space to crash, I'm good. Anything past that's a bonus."

* * *

"Joshua? I'm really sorry to bug."

"What's wrong Sora? I can't say I don't enjoy a good chat, but I do have a job to do here."

Sora gulped. "Yeah, sorry. I'll make this quick. Vanitas broke one of my pins… and all of his. You… or whoever does it that takes people's entry fees- you took his strength, magic, and Keyblade, but not his ability to make Unversed."

"Unversed?" Joshua sounded confused.

"Did you see the little monster that came out of his shadow?"

"Oh yeah, that Fear Noise. What of it? All humans make Noise."

"Not where we're from. Or… I don't know, maybe our dead do."

"Begs the question of why you three ended up here. Riku notwithstanding since he was dragged over, but why did you, and those two bodysuit wearing people…"

"Vanitas and Tomo," Sora said. Riku's replica didn't have his own name before, so the least he could do was make sure he was recognized by it here. Sora clarified. "What I mean is Vanitas made what you're calling Noise while he was alive, too. And the living could see it, and it hurt people."

The other line went silent for a short while. "I'm guessing, unlike Vanitas's magic and physical prowess, he didn't particularly like this quirk. Not with the way he tried to throw away his fear."

"Yeah."

"So what does that have to do with his broken pins?"

"His Unversed- his Noise I guess- are eating other Noise. It just absorbed my fire, and my pin went blank, and it ate up all the designs right off Vanitas's pins."

"That's… not a bad thing," Joshua replied. "I mean… the whole point of this is to help keep exaggerated emotions running amok in check. If he beats them by eating them instead of fighting them, that doesn't make a difference. I'll get your pin replaced, but not his. Sounds like he just fights differently. Was that all?"

"…no."

"Well?"

"Gabriel told me my entry fee gave me perks. And it was worth more than two souls."

"What of it? Are you… asking if someone's entry fee can be returned and mooch off of yours, instead?"

"Yeah."

"Returned… no. But mooch off your perks? Yes, if there's enough power. I'd guess it could probably be used on one-to-three more people before it's equivalent."

"What's the chance it could be used for two?"

"I'd say… likely about sixty percent. Wouldn't be able to tell if it had extra juice until we used it on the first person."

"There's about five hours left before the players go into stasis right? The reapers all just get excused and go where they want after."

"Yes, that's right. You'd have the rest of the evening to yourself."

"Could you come down with about thirty minutes to spare and offer my fee to Vanitas and Tomo?"

"I could. In what order? If it only works on one of them, the other will be left partner-less."

"Both. Let them decide."

Joshua chuckled. "Smart man. I'll be there around five thirty to give them hell."

"Thank you, Joshua."

"Now go back out there and get your butt kicked," Joshua said good-naturedly. "I saw you by 104. Your lieutenant put you on tutorial duty?"

"Yeah."

"Keep up the good work, Sora. I'll do what I can."


	10. time (stop)

_**If you're just jumping here because the chapter is new, note that i uploaded 4 chapters at once (7-8-9-10).**_

_**Don't know if it's enough to warrant a trigger warning but I'll say it now, because I don't want to surprise anyone**_

_**TW: gender dysphoria, torture**_

* * *

"Twenty two pairs down," Komaeda said with a smile. "And three hours to go. Once those last two get their butts here, everyone's passed our checkpoint."

He pointed lazily at Vanitas and Tomo.

Riku and Sora tread air, people-watching. After a traffic cop called them out for loitering, they took to the sky to stretch their wings and hide from the living. Now that everyone else was off elsewhere, Sora could watch the two of them with interest. They weren't friends, not even close, but he could see they were starting to patch each other up after fights, Vanitas passing things to Tomo once they re-entered the Underground while Tomo would occasionally heal him with magic or Noise.

"What's Vanitas doing?" Sora asked Komaeda.

"Looks like he's giving Tomo any pins he gets before his little Noise eats them."

"That's… what I thought," Sora said, relaxing in a sudden breeze. He was still sweltering, and couldn't wait to peel off everything. He was used to heat, sure, with Destiny Islands' perpetual summer, but it was a heat with a breeze and ocean salt. This was just sticky, with even more blistering hot air oozing from the pavement below.

"The rest of the dead are all gone, right?" Riku asked, checking his phone. "If they don't want to be Erased they need to move on."

Komaeda nodded. "A few people have come back to shop, but they're done with us."

"Shop?" Sora asked, confused. "The living can see us, right? Not them."

Komaeda pointed towards a fast food place. "Look closer."

Sora dove down, looking in the window. One of the cashiers… had Reaper wings. And there was a sign taped in the window that looked like the black and white pin all the players wore.

"Some of the Reapers work in the shops?" he asked when he rejoined Riku and Komaeda. "What for?"

"Players don't get tired, but they can get hungry. And they can buy new gear if they want to. Eri will give you a budget and level for your own equipment so you're not more powerful than you should be for a challenge, but within that, you can get what you want, too."

"Doesn't that put Vanitas and Tomo at a disadvantage? They're not going to have local money," Riku asked perceptively.

"Nah, the Reapers working in the shops will trade pins for cash too. Where the angels get the money from without destabilizing the economy I dunno. It's beyond me. So, it's good Tomo's carrying their pins. Otherwise, yeah, I'd worry."

"Speaking of worry…" Riku said, looking down as the two exited another pocket dimension. Vanitas was… smiling? A little?

"I'll go," Sora said. "They should fight us and move on."

He circled low again, and flapped just an inch or so off the ground. "Half your time is gone."

"Awww, look, Sunshine Boy's worried about us," Vanitas said, grinning. It was a little unsettling. It wasn't a smile anything like what Sora ever used, yet there it was, plastered on a face just like his.

Creepy.

"I'm not joking, Vanitas. If you don't finish your mission you die for good."

Vanitas froze. "Wait. You're serious?"

"You thought Joshua was joking?"

"**Joshua**?"

"The one with the white wings. My boss's boss's boss. He's an angel."

Tomo looked surprised. "Wait, so the inverse is true? We… get our lives back if we win?"

"Yes."

"But I didn't have one. I'm a-"

"Don't give me that crap, Tomo," Vanitas said, cutting him off. "You're here, right? Hell, **you're **here and Xehanort **isn't**."

Vanitas spat out his former master's name with bile. Sorta understood. Vanitas reassured Tomo, because he was also reassuring himself.

He wanted to exist, too.

"Well? You ready?" Sora asked.

Vanitas frowned, and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah. For real this time."

* * *

The silence was deafening. Sora floated just above the empty crosswalk, facing down Tomo this time. He flicked his fingers and his eyeball-bat sword materialized in his hand.

"No pins?" Sora asked.

"You didn't say we had to use them," Tomo replied, in Riku's voice but hardly his posture.

"No we didn't."

Sora felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and a scream from Riku escaped the void.

"Can you two stop monologuing and fight already?" Vanitas yelled from nowhere. Sora saw double for a moment, and Riku phased in to his dimension.

"We can do that?" Sora asked incredulously.

"Guess so," Riku shrugged, summoning his Keyblade.

Every one of his pins was blanked out.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" came Vaintas's voice.

Riku and Sora nodded, as Sora called forth his own key. If Tomo and Vanitas were going to play by nonstandard rules, so would they.

Tomo jumped, flinging himself halfway up a service pole, and flowed around it, skidding on air. Gracefully, he held out his sword on the descent, with clear intent to impale **someone**. Sora and Riku dodged in opposite directions, and Tomo only barely skidded on air friction to prevent himself from eating pavement.

"Watch it," Vanitas hissed from nowhere. "That hurts me too."

Sora charged, but Tomo knew his fighting style. He'd added to it over the years, but his core attack, dodge, parry, repeat was something Riku was long familiar with.

Which meant Tomo was too.

Sora sighed. There was no possible way to fight Tomo without him predicting his moves.

But there was someone he could fight, if he could figure out how to…

…slide into Vanitas's side of the pocket dimension.

"Finally."

Vanitas didn't just have a Flood any more. He was now flanked by three Unversed. Besides the chirping creature on his shoulder, a red pot looking creature, much like the little Red Nocturne mage-Heartless Sora was used to, floated alongside him. A tiny rabbit looking one peeked out from behind him.

If the Flood was fear… what other emotions had Vanitas released?

"I'm waiting, Sora," Vanitas said, grinning. The red pot shook, giddy.

Sora skipped straight past wasting the second fire pin, and jumped straight back to his kicker. A great beam of energy powered by his happiness- **seeing Kairi's face**\- shot straight from his chest, tearing a massive hole of light through the crossing.

When it cleared, the pot chittered excitedly, overflowing with light.

"What are you so happy about?!" Sora cried, noting his pin was now blank.

"I'm channeling the feeling of actually getting to kick your ass for once."

Sora gulped. He couldn't hide behind his happiness to defeat Vanitas. Or fear. Which left…

Sora closed his eyes and thought of Kairi again, but not her smile. A dream he'd had many many times since pulling the worlds back from darkness.

Kairi's hand, fading to dust in front of him.

He felt the tears streaking his face as he activated a blast of ice.

Unsurprisingly, Vanitas's rabbit took the hit with stride, and another pin went white.

"Oh, you think I don't know sadness?" Vanitas asked, crystals of frost stuck to his eyebrows and hair. "My whole life was sadness, panic and pain."

"I was making sure you'd be able to eat any of the Noise a-ouch! Riku, dodge!"

"Tomo nearly sliced my arm off!"

"Well thanks for ruining the moment," Sora whined. "I yield. You're just going to break all my pins and Riku's going to lose a limb."

"Or three. I yield."

The world warped and noise and life returned to the crosswalk. Tomo slumped and lay down right in the middle of the diagonal, giving precisely zero fucks when the cars resumed moving through the crosswalk.

Sora and Riku flapped, Riku downing a potion as he did so.

"When I said I'd beat you without touching you," Vanitas said, looking up, "I was being metaphorical."

"What, unsatisfying?" Riku asked, a little mocking tone to his voice.

"Understatement of the century. Tomo, get up. Let's move."

"Er, wait. You two get pins."

"Oh yay. Pins," Vanitas said, dripping with dry sarcasm. "More things I can't eat."

"You're hungry?"

"After doing all that?" Vanitas said sharply. "Yes, Sora, you brick wall. The answer is yes."

Komaeda flapped over. "Who won?"

Sora and Riku pointed at the other pair.

"Last group then. Barrier's down for everyone, we're done."

"Wait," Riku asked. "You mean… we can just leave our post?"

"Yep. Hang on, texting it to Eri, and… yes. We're clear. How about a late lunch? And then you two need to finish your assignment."

Tomo peeled himself up off the sidewalk. "Food would be great right now…"

* * *

"What, have you never seen a burger before?" Komaeda asked curiously. He'd loosened his kerchief down to his neck, but left his hood up, and Riku and Sora followed suit. Komaeda's face, what little they could actually see, was soft, and a lot smaller than expected. Sora did remember he died when he was ten, so did he still look like a young child under the oversized baggy clothing?

"…no," Vanitas said, looking at the thing like it would bite.

"I never had one until I visited Traverse Town," Sora admitted. "Though they used giant mushrooms. First one like this, with meat or seafood, that was in Radiant Garden."

Sora munched on his shrimp croquette burger, waiting for Vanitas to actually try his food.

"I… I'm kind of glad I'm not visible," Tomo finally admitted, poking at a fry before biting down on it. "I feel really out of place."

"To be fair, our clothes were a giant warning sign back home too," Vanitas said, shoulders high and on edge, still staring down his food. "This… is meat, right?"

"If you're a vegetarian, I can get you a salad," Komaeda insisted. "I just figured that was the least controversial option."

"It's already dead, I'm not wasting food," he muttered, with a sigh, before biting down. "Like me."

The rabbit and the pot Unversed had disappeared with the end of their fight, but the Flood remained, alternating rolling around inside Vanitas's shadow and jumping up on the chair back to sit on his shoulder.

Someone yanked on Vanitas's chair and the Flood panicked, dropping down under its master's feet.

"Um, I am sorry to bother, but is anyone using this chair?" a woman asked.

"So sorry, but we're meeting friends. There's a second floor, and it's got a better view of the city, too," Komaeda hastily half-lied.

"Oh, thanks!"

"Yeah… thanks," Vanitas muttered. His Flood popped back out, and Sora bent down to offer it a fry.

"You're stalling," Riku said, already finished with his food and poking at the paper lined tray in front of him. "You've got like two hours left."

"So?"

"Why?"

Vanitas snorted, and took another bite.

"Nobody's going to see you talking with your mouth full," Riku goaded.

"Fine," Vanitas replied. "I win the week and get brought back to life, then what? Yay, Xehanort's gone bye-bye but I don't have anywhere to go, nothing to live for. And I just leave behind literal shit in my wake," he added, nudging the Flood. It chirruped, ran up the chair, and pressed its head into Sora's hand.

"Stop that," he complained at it.

"He just wants pets," Sora pouted, offering another fry. "And so what? You think the former Nobodies had somewhere to go when they recompleted? Master Yen Sid took Lea in, no questions asked, and Ienzo, Dilan, and Aeleus started rebuilding Ansem's castle for his return."

"Ventus won't take me, I tried that shit before."

"You asked him if he could take you in his home?"

"I jumped back in our body," Vanitas clarified.

"So… you're Ventus's Nobody? I thought that was Roxas."

"I… fuck… no. I'm not his Nobody, I'm the darkness ripped from him. I'm his shadow."

"Explains the brooding emo crap," Riku said, flinging a fry like a baton; the Flood chirped and caught it in his mouth. "So what, you're his darkness? What do you think Tomo and I are made of, butterflies and sunshine?"

Vanitas looked between Riku and his replica. "You two still have some light in you."

"Oh, for fucks sake, dark isn't evil. Or it doesn't have to be. It's just an absence of light."

Komaeda put his hands on his head. "See, this is why I stopped playing after the second one. Also, I **died**. Darkness, hearts, light, Nobodies, good lord. It's like a fill in the blank. Vanitas, people are **weird **and **flawed **and you need to get over yourself. Finish your food and go get your life back."

"Why didn't you?"

"Why didn't I what?"

"Try and get yours back? Or did you immediately end up a Reaper thing?"

"What, no, if your soul does come here, you're always a player first. You have to ask to be a Reaper instead. Pulls you out of the game, but you can try and ascend to be an angel. Pretty much everyone who turned Reaper my year is at least a low level angel by now."

"You're not even a Reaper officer, though…" Sora piped in. "Our lieutenant's been a Reaper only six months, and already ranked past you, yet J- the higher ups trust you a ton."

"Don't make this about me. They're on a timer."

Vanitas huffed. "Come on, Tomo, before some living person sits on us."

"Wait," Sora added, picking up the trays as he stood.

"Oh, yeah, clean up our trash. Do the living people see like… floating trays?" Tomo asked, gathering his trash.

"Yes pick up your- wait no, that's not why I stopped you," Sora added, flustered. "Did… did you want to be on our side of the equation?"

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. "See, now that I know how it works, why did you want to be Reapers? You of all people must want your life back."

Sora held up the hand wrapped in the Velcro bandage, then lifted Komaeda's hands, timer free.

"I'm not technically a Reaper, and I'm not in the game either. Neither of us are. But it means you won't be thrown into stasis when your timer runs out. We're looking for a way home, Vanitas. You can come with us. You both can."

"After what I did?"

"After what Lea did? Isa?" Riku countered. "Hell, I forgave Tomo years ago. You want somewhere to belong right? A purpose?"

"My purpose was to make the X-blade."

"Was it really? Or was that what Xehanort demanded? News flash. He's **dead**."

"Then why isn't he **here**?"

Komaeda gulped, and deposited his trash in the garbage way more forcefully than necessary. "This is purgatory, not **hell**."

"You think he went there?" Vanitas squeaked. "But I didn't?!"

"With the way you all talk, yeah, I do," Komaeda said, sharply. "You're here. He's not. Get over yourself."

Vanitas started laughing hysterically. "I wasn't even a good enough apprentice to go to hell with him. What a fuckup."

"You can be a fuckup with us," Sora offered.

Vanitas froze. "You cursed. You actually just cursed. Sora. Mister sunshine."

"Kairi curses and she's a Princess of Heart," Sora offered, holding open the door.

"Dear god if I hear "darkness" or "light" or "heart" one more time…" Komaeda muttered, "I'll send the lot of you to Hell myself."

* * *

Joshua didn't pull out the theatrics this time. There was just a whipped breeze as he flew, and gently hovered just off the ground.

Vanitas and Tomo were terrified.

"Oh for… I'm not here to turn you two to dust," Joshua admitted. "It's called putting the fear of God in you for a reason."

Vanitas's Flood growled.

"Yes, I deserved that."

"He's really nice, I promise!" Sora insisted.

"Says the idiot who gave my fear made manifest **tummy rubs**."

"That was me, actually," Komaeda insisted.

Vanitas rolled his eyes so hard it was close to audible.

"Look, I'll drop the act. Do you or don't you want to be in the same weird stasis that Sora and Riku are in?"

"Is there a catch?"

"Yes, but Sora's already paid for it. So this is just a yes or no."

Vanitas looked sideways at Sora, who wasn't providing any further details.

"If I say yes?"

"You'll get an infinity timer like them. Which means you're exempt from these missions, and directly under my care."

"And no?"

"You play the game as normal, and should you survive to the end of the week, get your life back. I don't know if that means you wake up back in your own land or not, but I don't think it does. You'd likely have to start over, here, in Japan. You could also ask to be a Reaper. A real one. Up to you."

"Why would I want to be taken out of the game?"

"Because Sora and Riku are trying to find a way home, and it gives you the means to search without fear of being gone for good."

"Is this a personal or joint decision?"

Joshua smiled lightly. "And herein lies the problem."

"You said there wasn't a catch."

"What happens if one of you takes the offer but the other does not?"

"No game partner," Tomo said quietly. "The other would be as good as dead."

"**Bingo**. So you both need to give me the same answer. Unless one of you really does want to die for good. I'm not going to stop you, it's your life."

"Vanitas, what do you want to do?" Tomo asked.

"I don't care, honestly. Xehanort is dead, the X-blade was made, what the hell do I have to live for?"

"And I shouldn't even ex-"

"**We're taking the stupid deal,**" Vanitas insisted, cutting off Tomo. "You shut your mouth about that."

"I.."

"No buts."

Joshua looked at the two of them. "Tomo was it? You don't have to let him bully you into a choice."

"I… no. It's…"

"Nobody gets to choose if they're born," Riku said. "You have just as much right to live as I do."

"…yes. Take me out of this game."

"Hands out, gentlemen." Joshua put his two hands over their timers, and a spark of light erupted.

"Fuck," Vanitas cursed low. "That hurt."

"Everyone passed your checkpoint, right?" Joshua asked, addressing Sora , Riku, and Komaeda.

"Yes, Master Joshua, Eri gave us the all clear an hour ago."

Joshua pulled out a stack of bills. "Go get yourselves some clothes. Then come see me for their wings. If we do this the other way, we might have an incident of them being visible with those bodysuits. That goes for all of you, you can't keep raiding my and Gabe's closets. Emi, get yourself something too, if you want."

"Master Joshua!" Komaeda cried.

He turned red. "Sorry Komaeda."

When the other four boys looked thoroughly confused, Komaeda's shoulders sagged. "You didn't think Komaeda was my first name, did you? Why would my twin brother and I have the same name?"

"You don't like your first name?" Sora asked, confused.

"I do, just… oh. Right. You're not native Japanese speakers. Never mind."

* * *

"Emi is a girl's name isn't it?" Vanitas asked as they walked the square, entering the 104 building to go burn their money on clothes.

"Yeah, it is," Komaeda said with a sigh. "My brother and I are fat-frat- the non-identical kind of twins. I was a singer in the Tokyo Youth choir. My entry fee was my voice... and I ended up with my brothers'. When he died a year later, his fee was his memories of me. He thinks he has an identical twin brother he forgot about. We've almost been dead as long as we were alive at this point, so… I just never bothered to correct him. We can only talk on the phone and text, and see each other in person once a year so… I'd rather him have me in his afterlife at all than not at all. And with the low level uniforms being unisex, everyone just assumes I'm a guy. I don't bother correcting them."

"You don't get your entry fee back when you become a Reaper?" Tomo asked.

"Nope. Win, or become at least a Conductor. Then you get it back."

"Do you want to be considered a guy or girl?" Sora asked, worriedly.

"I honestly don't even care any more."

"You do, if the way you freaked out at Joshua was any indication," Riku said, stopped in front of a shop, debating wether or not to go in.

"I won't be a girl again until I have my voice back, and I won't have that until my brother and I are Conductors or angels. I want to be an angel… **with him**. Until then, I'll pass on promotions. He's just continuously gotten shafted."

Komaeda sighed. "There's a running joke that Shinjuku is where people go to die for a reason. I'm just glad he still exists. Come on, stop staring and let's get some more appropriate stuff for you. Leather bodysuits are so last season."

* * *

"I don't like it," Vanitas gruffed, stepping out of the changing room.

"Vanitas… you're covered in scars…" Sora said, horrified, looking at his bare arms crisscrossed with welted scar tissue. "Is that… all over?"

"So what if it is?"

"**So what if it is** my ass," Riku sad, grabbing his wrist gently. "That has to hurt. These… Xehanort did this, didn't he?"

"How else do you learn to use a Keyblade?" Vanitas asked.

"Not by beating up your student to an inch of their life!" Riku cried. "I'm taking care of that. Now."

"You can… get rid of this?"

"Did he never teach you Cure magic? **Ever**?" Riku asked, almost in a rage. "Changing room. **Now**."

"Do you need-" Sora started.

"**No**, help Tomo look for something," Riku said, a bit of the bite removed.

* * *

Sora hunted through the racks, partially for himself and partially for Tomo. A clerk came up behind him. "Who's your superior?" he asked Sora.

"Eri," he answered quickly.

"You got an all clear **this **early?"

Komaeda held up their phone. "Two hours ago. We've got fresh Reapers who need out-of-work clothes," they added, pointing to Tomo. "He's getting his wings from Master Joshua after he finds something that won't scare the living, but his timer's already been frozen. There's one more virgin and a Reaper in the changing rooms."

"You two looking too?" the clerk asked.

Komaeda and Sora nodded.

"Weird clothes to die in," the clerk muttered. "Come on, let's find you something less.. whatever the fuck that is," he offered, leading Tomo away.

"Whatcha doing, yo?" Sora heard a deep, irritating voice coming from just outside the shop.

"I… could have sworn I heard a familiar voice."

Now that one, Sora knew.

**Neku**.

He peeked in, saw Sora and Komaeda, and flicked up both his middle fingers. Komaeda held up a hand, rotating their other one in a circular motion, and slowly raised up their own middle finger as they cranked.

"Oh, hey, Komaeda," Neku said lightly, dropping the hand gestures. "Beat, it's the not-asshole."

"Yooo, long time, shrimp," a tall teenager with a beanie and a sleeveless white tank top shouted. The Reaper clerk helping Tomo winced, wings folded inward as if Neku's friend's voice sounded painful.

"I saw you yesterday," Komaeda muttered.

"Yeah but you were off the clock. Doesn't count, yo."

Sora just stood there in shock at seeing Neku, alive and whole again, before he spied two girls, one in an oversized peach long sleeve shirt and half-undone overall shorts and the other in a green leaf-print skirt with unassuming black hair and glasses. The former he recognized, from her brief time stuck in the wrong Twilight Town.

"Rhyme?" he asked aloud.

"I don't know you, so it's Raimu…" she said quietly, peeking from the edge of the store.

"Ahem, **Youta**. We got an all clear. You can take off your hood, so long as there aren't any active players nearby," Komaeda said nudging. "Though how you know them is beyond me."

Sora undid his kerchief and let his hood fall.

"I knew I heard a familiar voice," Neku chuckled, before the realization hit him.

"Sora, when I said 'see you in Shibuya ' this is **not **what I meant!"


	11. less, heart

_**torture tw still in effect, plz hug a flood in honor of vanitas**_

* * *

A loud thud.

The clerk winced again.

"Vanitas, I am not going to hurt you!"

Sora frowned, and pushed his way past his friends, his wings going straight through Neku and his taller beanie-wearing friend. Neku gripped his arms as if he had a sudden chill.

"I know I can't see them but if you're wearing **that **you've got wings," Neku grumbled. "Don't phase them through me, I've had enough death for a lifetime, thank you."

"Still gives me the heebie-jeebies," Neku's friend groaned.

Sora ignored them and stormed to Riku, the clerk following.

Vanitas's Flood had expanded, more than human in size, and was both cowering and towering over Riku.

"I'm just trying to help," he said, eyes like saucers with his hood flipped back.

"Riku, you're here? What's going on, yo?" Neku's friend asked, looking where he was and seeing only empty space. "There Noise there?"

"Vanitas, it's just Sora. I'm going to pet your Unversed," Sora said, carefully, as he reached out for the Flood, ignoring everyone else.

It backed a little further in the corner, close to seven feet tall and huddling on hind legs.

"Here, here," Sora cooed, holding out a hand. He took off his Pyrokinesis pin and held it out. The Flood chirped, and went down on all fours, eyeing the snack carefully.

"That… what the hell is that?" the clerk asked.

"Unversed. Sort of like Noise," Sora said, not looking back as he held out the pin for the Flood to sniff. It took a step forward, and Vanitas was finally visible behind it- shirtless, white as a sheet, and in a state of pure panic.

"Noise? **Here**? There's like a million wards on the building," the clerk hissed.

"No, no, our friend fights this way instead of pins," Sora clarified, taking a step back. The Flood took another step forward to meet him, and shrunk about a foot in size. "He… well… his dad was super abusive. He's got trust issues."

The clerk stretched his neck to see Vanitas on the floor, every laceration exposed without a shirt to cover them.

"Fuck," he said low. "Fuck. Okay. Yeah. His dad do that?"

"Yeah," Sora said, lowering his hand as the Flood stepped forward and shrunk again.

"I went to heal them, and he just…" Riku started.

"BSOD'ed," the clerk offered, without a further explanation of the meaning. "You get his Noise under control and I'll talk to him."

"I can hear you, you know," Vanitas said weakly. "Also, don't touch me. Ever."

"Can I pet your Unversed?" Sora asked him.

"**No**."

"Hey, I'm Jun," the clerk said, squatting a yard away from Vanitas.

"Go away," Vanitas growled.

"I heard you wanted to be a Reaper," Jun continued, cautiously. "I… try to dissuade people from being Reapers instead of coming back to life but… uh… I think you made the right choice."

"Thank you for your extremely helpful opinion," Vanitas said dryly as he regained some of his senses.

Jun inhaled sharply, and was about to speak, when another young man in the same uniform- without wings- glared at him. "Quit slacking, and help me restock."

Neku snorted loudly. Of course reality would ensue.

"Scuse me, I have a friend here," Jun snapped back.

"Shop's haunted again?" his coworker asked. Surprisingly, it wasn't sarcastic, but genuine. **Worried**.

"Teenager. Looks a lot like that guy," Jun said, pointing at Sora.

"We… we're actually twins," Sora fumbled to say, offering the pin to the Flood, now more or less back to its usual size. It chirped, and sucked the design right off the pin face, burped out the tiniest of fireballs, and trotted back to Vanitas, seemingly satisfied enough to press its head under its masters chin and purr.

Jun narrowed his eyes, glaring at Sora. "You're not… are you?" he asked running his finger along his arms in a criss-cross pattern.

"We… were raised separate," Vanitas grumbled out. "He didn't have my shit dad."

The human clerk followed Jun's eyes. "Is he sitting in that corner?"

"Yeah."

The clerk squatted next to Jun. "Your parents did a number on you, kid? Fuck them. You're safe here."

"He can't see me, right?" Vanitas asked.

"Doesn't mean he doesn't care," Jun replied. "Sai ran away from home when he was sixteen. Drunk parents, beat him daily."

Sai nodded. "I can't tell how bad you look, but I can tell you Jun and his weird ghost buddies can heal shit that shouldn't be possible. If he says you're there in the corner, I sure as hell believe him."

Vanitas's shoulders relaxed a little. "He… found you and patched you up too, didn't he?" he asked Sai, knowing he wouldn't be heard.

"Yeah, I found this idiot, almost dead in a gutter," Jun replied, elbowing his coworker. "I broke protocol and used magic on someone alive, but if I hadn't saved him then, he would have found his way in here Monday morning regardless- minus, you know, a beating heart and all. You're safe now, and if your excuse of a dad **ever**steps foot in Shibuya I want you to understand that I will personally inflict the wrath of God on him. Are we clear?"

"Crystal…" Vanitas said, shaking a little. He could feel water starting to pool at the sides of his eyes.

"Go on," Jun insisted. "Cry as long as you need. I promise it'll feel way better when you're done. Let me know if you need tissues or something."

"I… want them gone."

"Those scars? Fuck, so would I. If your friend says he can do it, why don't you let him… oh. You don't like being touched, do you?"

"If every time someone reached for you, smacked you, it makes sense," Sai added. "That fear never goes away."

"Literally," Riku added, looking down at the Flood. It jumped out of Vanitas's arms and ran to Sora, headbutting him in the shin.

"He wants pets, Vanitas," Sora insisted.

Vanitas frowned. "What is your problem, squirt?"

It chittered.

Sora sat down, offering his hand, and the Flood shoved its face in it. Gently, Sora stroked the top of its head, watching Vanitas's reaction. He shivered a little, and when the Flood's eyes stopped glowing, Vanitas closed his own.

"If you're going to heal me, do it now," he said through gritted teeth.

"Okay. Sora, can you pet the Flood where I touch Vanitas?"

Sora nodded, and Riku reached out for Vanitas's shoulder, the nastiest of the visible scars. It was a grey-purple, almost six inches long and a full inch thick of gnarled scar tissue. It looked like rope.

Sora gently rubbed the Flood's shoulder in the same spot with one hand, and offered chin scratches with the other.

Riku lightly pressed his fingers on the scarring, glowing a hazy green.

"Whoa," came a collective gasp of everyone living. Neku, his loud friend, and the two girls joined to sit and surround the changing room from a few foot distance. They weren't able to see wings or Players, but Riku wasn't using Reaper magic- it was a modified Cure spell Sora had seen Aerith do back on Radiant Garden.

"You, change the sign to closed, wouldja?" Sai asked Komaeda. They did, and shut the front door of the shop.

"You're doing great Vanitas," Riku said reassuringly. "Just stay still and let me work."

Vanitas's mouth pulled back into a snarl, but he didn't move, and his Flood didn't expand in size.

"So, uh, Ba-ni-ta-su," Sai asked, attempting his name and gulping. "Tough day?"

"Fucking tell me about it," Vanitas groaned.

"He said yeah," Jun explained.

"I heard the dead have some cool superpowers, right? What can you do?"

"I have the power to be ignored by stupid people," he muttered low.

"I'm actually holding it," Sora said. "Vanitas can turn his emotions into weapons. And by which I mean…"

"If you say 'cute things', Sora, I will have that creature bite your dick off; it's in range."

"…small monsters," Sora finished, face red. "I'm trying to keep his fear occupied right now."

"Wild," Neku said. "So he has control over his own Noise? And you're holding one?"

"Basically," Sora replied.

"What does it look like?" Rhyme's black haired friend asked, as Riku lifted his hand away from the first scar on Vanitas's body.

Vanitas's shoulder was smooth, and a healthier shade of light peach.

"It's about the size of a really big cat, and kind of looks like one, if a cat was all pointy with antennae. It's got really short fur and it's very soft. Like velvet."

"Wish I could see it," the girl pouted. "It sounds cute."

Vanitas cracked an eye to glare at her. She couldn't even notice.

Komaeda and Tomo squatted down beside Sora, Tomo rolling up a small bundle of clothes to one side- the things he wanted to buy, likely.

Sora noticed the Flood squealing a little and Vanitas grit his teeth harder. Sora had been on the receiving end of this kind of healing magic- the slower kind that restored skin and bone. It didn't hurt, just felt strange and numb, so he assumed Vanitas's look of pain was more from mental anguish than anything physical.

That didn't make it any less real, though. Just a little different to deal with.

"Vanitas, at lunch you said you didn't like eating meat," Sora offered in distraction. "What do you like so we can have it stocked for you?"

"I'll eat anything I have to," he replied through clenched jaw. "But yeah… if I did have a choice, I don't want to eat anything that could look back at me."

His Flood pressed its head in Sora's hand again, and Sora remembered one of Vanitas's Unversed had been a rabbit. It would be hard to eat things that looked like ones own cast off emotion, he mused.

"Are there any good places with vegetarian food around here?"

"Oh, sick, that Ethimopan place, yo," Neku's friend offered.

"**Ethiopian**," Neku corrected, dryly. "A bunch of the Reapers go there Monday nights when the place is dead," he added, snickering at his own bad pun. "You sit at a big table together and share. There's meat as an option, but it's mostly vegetarian food and bread."

"Wait, that stuff is bread?" his friend asked. "With all the little holes in it I always thought it's like a giant lotus root or something."

"Lotus root isn't that squishy, Beat," Neku sighed out.

During the food based distraction, Riku worked quickly- and half of Vanitas's chest was done.

"Yeah, and tonight's Monday, right?" Jun said with a grin. "You're getting new clothes, a pair of wings, you should come and celebrate with us! And come back in after you get them, right, so Sai here doesn't think I'm nuts."

"I don't have to **think **you're nuts, Jun. it's pretty obvious."

For a split second, Vanitas's lip curled into the tiniest corner of a smile.

* * *

"Thanks for lettin' us borrow these three," Goofy said, hauling himself up the side of one of Prince Noctis's chocobos.

"Yeah, well, the least we can do is keep you off the ground. Most monsters hate chocobos for some reason."

"It's their smell," Goofy said, patting his mount on the head. "Something in their musk bothers a lot of other animals."

"Well aren't you a font of knowledge," Demyx grumbled, trying to stabilize himself on one. "Haven't ridden one of these in centuries," he added under his breath as he adjusted, giving his a gentle kick in the flank to bring it to attention. While there were three yellow chocobo in the flock, he'd insisted on the hot pink one instead.

Donald, however, had not only never ridden one of the beasts in his life (he was a **mage**, darn it, not a knight), he was also not used to being tall enough to sit on anything not specifically designed for him and have his legs dangle off the sides.

"Hold the reins, Donald, and give your mount a kick. Lightly. You're trying to get it's attention, not hurt the poor gal."

"How do you know it's a girl?" Donald asked skeptically as he nudged it. The chocobo tweeted a loud wark sound and shook itself, with Donald in the saddle, panicking.

"Her height. Look, mine is a good two hands taller." Goofy gave his a gentle kick and the chocobo ruffled it's feathers and pranced in a circle around Donald's.

"Oh, they're a matin' pair. Donald, you don't have to do anything but hold on. She'll follow her paramour."

Donald blanched a little, but was grateful it meant he wouldn't have to worry about steering her.

"We're burning midnight, stay on your toes," Gladio hollered, sliding into the backseat of an extremely fancy black car with Prompto. Ignis turned over their car and blasted the headlamps.

"Don't get off for any reason until we're at the sighting area," Ignis warmed, tilting the rear view mirror. "I still cannot believe we are doing this."

"I want to fight as little as possible, Demyx said, getting his mount into a solid, controlled gallop. Some things you never really forgot how to do.

* * *

"So, whaddya think? Not bad?"

Vanitas looked in the mirror at his new clothes, fidgeting a little. He was wearing **short sleeves**, and yet he didn't feel self conscious.

There was still a little pink- the final tiny scar lines littering his skin- but the gnarled knots of poorly repaired tissue were gone.

Vanitas considered that Xehanort might have left him like that on purpose- branded.

He could still feel someone giving his Flood ear scratches- Sora was giving an extremely watered down version of how they got here to his friends, all while holding the beast, and showing them where the head was so they could try and pet the air where it was supposed to be.

"Wait… you're Shiki?!" Sora cried from the other side of the store. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

He flailed towards the girl with black hair and glasses, who just giggled.

"My fee was my appearance," she said. "I looked like one of my friends in the game. I… won, and so I'm back to being me."

"What's yours, Sora?" Neku asked, nervously.

"A magic artifact from my own world," Sora explained, without too much detail. "Riku… he **was **a fee."

Vanitas sighed, and rubbed his eyes, focusing on the view of himself in front of him.

"There's a drugstore one level down if you need some drops," Jun added. "There's no Reapers there but I'm sure your living friends or your brother can grab you some."

"Crying sucks," Vanitas growled, rubbing the heel of his palm into his eye, seeing the infinity-marked timer on his palm.

"Yeah, but you feel better after," Jun insisted, then spied the timer. "Oh that's neat. I was wondering how they froze time for you. Your silver haired friend have it too?"

Vanitas nodded.

"Whoo boy, that is powerful magic. I don't even know whose that is. It's not Master Joshua's that's for sure. His smells like gunpowder and spray paint."

"You can smell it?"

"You're a Reaper long enough, and yeah. It's faint, but everyone leaves a unique mark. Your brother smells like pancakes and pachinko, so he got his wings from the angel in charge of Akihabara."

"What does it smell like? This magic?"

Jun frowned. "This is going to sound weird but… like a casino. Expensive brandy, cigars, and a little bit of luck."

Vanitas shook out his mess of hair as his Flood got more head scritches. He had to admit, it did feel nice, once the fear was tamped down a bit.

He adjusted his short sleeve track jacket- red and black, with a skull with an X and a V for eyes on the back, and nodded at his new reflection in the mirror, a stack of clothes piled high enough to last a few days without needing to do laundry, waiting to be paid for on the bench in the dressing room.

"So where'd you get the dough for all this? Pins to trade in?"

"Komaeda has our allowance," Vanitas said shrugging. "I don't even know if I broke the bank."

* * *

"That's a lot bigger than I expected, a'hyuck."

"Yeeeeah, just a tad. Tiny bit. Nothing at all to worry about," Demyx replied, craning his neck up to look at their adversary.

And craned it some more.

At least a third of it was completely out of the Prince's car's obnoxious floodlights.

"Do we get off these things now?" Donald asked, white knuckling his reins.

Ignis huffed, and narrowed his eyes, glinting against the reflected car surface.

"Yes."

Donald inhaled, looked at the beast before him, and awkwardly flung himself out of the saddle and on the dry cracked earth of the desert. The air was cool, and he rolled once on the ground, right next to the edge of the crumbling paved road.

He flicked his arm, his staff neatly slotting into his fingers, and inhaled.

"Megaflare."

A sea of sparklers cracked out from nowhere, each additional one sapping his strength. But he wasn't going to allow those four to take even one hit on the behemoth in front of them.

At first, all he could hear was Prompto cracking up in the car's backseat, and Demyx's low whistle.

Then just the whistling of his spell, and finally, the deep bellow of the behemoth as it screamed, to a death of a thousand cuts.

Or, in this case, about 2,500 or so extremely well aimed mini- sparklers to the spaces between its armor plates.

With one last screech, the beast fell forward, thudding hard in the dirt.

The desert went silent, other than the sound of the idling car and occasional squaks from the chocobo. Donald panted, and leaned on the passenger rear seat door.

"You owe us a meal."

* * *

Walter lunged, latching on Ienzo's leg like a leech. "I am SO sorry! I have such bad luck, like you have no idea."

"It… it's fine, Walter. No harm, no foul, yes?"

Walter nodded, holding out Ienzo's phone to trade. "I believe this is yours."

"And this is yours?" Ienzo replied, handing Walter's phone over, as well as all the money they'd earned, save three dollars for the bus ride back.

"What, the money? No, no, that goes to Kermit."

A slender, green frog doll on too-skinny legs ambled over. "I just wanted to say thank you," he insisted. "I gave up running this place ages ago. I thought people stopped enjoying live performance. But I saw you on TV. Wow. That was impressive! Everyone was cheering!"

Kermit nodded towards the old seats, at least a decade or two of disuse. "I remember the lights most of all. That click of them going on was like a switch in my brain. It was time to go make people laugh again."

"Well, I don't know how much this helps, but it's more useful to you guys than me."

"Now, why don't you read those missed messages and see how I can help you?"

* * *

"Think we cleaned out half the place," Riku muttered, hanging on to heavy bags.

"I can grab some stuff, yo," Beat hollered.

"We're going to go get them their wings," Riku said, nodding towards Tomo and Vanitas, just behind. "You don't have to stick around."

"We were literally dicking around doing nothing," Neku insisted. "It's the last week of summer break. And we all go hang with the Reapers on Monday's at Almaz anyway, if we're not busy. At the very least, to talk shit about Joshua," he added with a grin. "It's almost been six months since we died… I still want to punch that pretty boy in the face."

"You **have**," Shiki commented. "Pretty much every time you see him."

"Well, he shot me twice, so he's always got another punch coming!"

"Wait what," Sora asked flatly.

"Oh, guess that news never got your way. He killed me. Two bullets. One to the chest, one to the head. Over on Cat Street."

Everyone froze, including Komaeda. "I… heard Joshua stole a living kid to help take down a problem in the Underground six months ago. I mean… I was a barrier warden, so I was working it. But… I didn't realize it was you or…"

"That he murdered me for it?" Neku asked, eyebrow raised. "I mean, I can't say I'm happy about it, but it was painless and he put me back when it was done."

"Do you… forgive him for it?" Sora asked quietly.

"**No**, but now that I've had a little time to see the bigger picture I understand **why **he did. I don't forgive him, probably never will. But I understand, and respect it. And yes, he's a friend. But sometimes friends do do really stupid shit. That was some grade-A classic stupid shit."

"You've grown up," Sora said with confidence.

"So have you."

"So, why did he?" Riku piped up. "Kill you, I mean."

"I don't know all the details, but… there was some kind of war going on among the angels, and Joshua kinda used me in a bet, it's a long story."

"Oh yeah, Eri mentioned that this morning, didn't she?" Sora asked. Komaeda nodded, and pointed out where to turn to meet Joshua. "How stuff changed after, too."

A clock rung six, and Sora, Komaeda, and Riku's phones all blared.

"Game's over for the day, right?" Rhyme asked.

"That's six hours up, so yeah," Riku said. "And what changed?"

"Joshua got complete control of Shibuya. He used to have to share with another angel who'd assign points to the Players. Reapers could only be promoted if they earned enough points by erasing players."

"That… that's cruel!" Sora cried.

"Master Joshua thought so too, but the other angels thought he was just too in love with humanity," Komaeda said. "So he started forming a coalition of other angels who thought the system sucked, and gathered support from Reapers like me. It was risky. Most angels see humans as stupid toys, like action figures you bash into each other for fun. I was waiting for my brother to be angels together so we could tear their system a new one from the inside. Master Joshua's already started. He's turned Shibuya from a battleground to genuine tough love. It's not free of conflict, but it's not senseless violence anymore. I'm proud to work under him."

"Ah-choo!" Sora's feet had merely followed Komaeda and Neku's, and he hadn't realized he'd walked to a mural.

An incredible one, covered in bright bold graffiti art.

"Wow…" Sora said in awe, nearly dropping his bags.

"Figured it was fitti-" Joshua started, standing in front of the center of the mural, before Neku decked him square on the left cheek. "You just took out three teeth. Are we even yet, or how many more sucker punches am I due?"

Joshua reached and cracked his lower jaw with his right hand. It sounded like stepping on glass.

He rotated his mouth for a second. "I hate regrowing my teeth, you know that?"

"Good to see you, murderer," Neku said with a smirk, holding out his fist.

Joshua fist-burped, then engulfed it for a moment in his own hand. "Only one broken bone this time. You're getting better."

Sparks flew from his hand, and Neku shook it out.

"You really should tape up before a punch."

"Then when will you know if I plan to actually do it?"

Joshua laughed. "**Fair**. Now, let's give those two the ability to actually harass the living, shall we? Who's up first?"

Tomo and Vanitas stared at each other.

"It's not some kind of blood ritual, I just need to touch your back," Joshua said, the left side of his face still sparking with Cure magic.

He spat out a tooth.

"Ugh, I made a baby tooth by accident," he muttered. "I promise I don't bite. Really."

"Nah, he's more a pistol kind of guy," Neku teased.

Vanitas picked up his Flood off the ground, holding it out for Sora. He placed his bags down and took it.

Sora cuddled it, letting it press against his chest while Joshua reached out, rubbing Vanitas's shoulderblade.

"Dude, that's wild, he's like… kinda see through," Beat said, surprised, as Vanitas grit his teeth and flapped the wing. Joshua quickly gave him his other one.

Vanitas spread and stretched them out. "Wings that look like bent steel. Suits me."

"I've seen Reaper wings, I'm sure they look sharp," Shiki giggled out, offering her hand to shake.

"Literally, or figuratively?" Neku asked, offering his fist.

"**Pass**, I know where that things' been."

* * *

Ienzo scrolled though his missed messages, frowning.

"Neither of you have been checking your own phones, have you?" he asked.

"No…?" Roxas asked, guiltily.

"We're on the wrong world. There's no living dolls where Sora and Riku are," Ienzo commented, holding out his chat window for them to see.

"Then we should try one of the other places, right?" Xion asked.

"Yeah, we should," Roxas started. "But…"

"But there are people here that need us," Ienzo finished.

"Actually, I was going to say 'heartless and unprotected citizens'."

"Oh… that's a fair point."

"There's at least one group in each portal. Unless someone asks for backup, I think we should stay a bit longer. At least until we find the source," Roxas said, simply. "I hate being here more than you two, but we owe this place that much."

Ienzo nodded. "Let me check in to the group discussion and let them know, at least."

* * *

Goofy walked cautiously toward the carcass, shield up, with Gladio just behind him.

"Dead as a door-nail, guess we do owe you all some dinner," Gladio said, whistling low.

"Take what you can and let's go, Gladio. It's not safe out here in the dark," Ignis shouted at him. "I've already got the Regalia in gear, take some plates from it's chest armor and move!"

"Don't blow a gasket, Iggy," Gladio muttered. "Waaaait, we do have company."

Gold eyes blinked out through the darkness.

"Demons!" Gladio shouted, and Noctis was at his side in an instant- literally, as the teenage prince had teleported.

"Doesn't look like demons to me," Noctis muttered.

"That's because… hoo boy, those are Heartless." Demyx flicked his fingers, and his sitar was in his hands. "We've got more fish to fry."


	12. biblical flood

**_I want to thank you all for you comments, insight, and continued support! Seeing all these long (and short!) comments about your questions and what you did and didn't like gives me the power to keep writing. Know that if I don't directly address a question, its because i hav S._**

**_This will be the last chapter this week. See you at PAX! (note, this was posted a week earlier on AO3, and I am already back)_**

* * *

"Yes, That is a problem."

Terra craned his neck up at the pillar of swarming Heartless, a whirlpool whirling around in what would have been a gorgeous freshwater spring straight from the cliff rock.

"Not even Neutrinos deal damage to these," Holly said, staring at the Demon Tower. "It won't leave the spring though- it just spins around in there. But it's scaring the locals, and that's one less water source we can use."

"You mean… it's not attacking?" Aqua asked. "That's… odd."

The entire thing stuttered, and for a split second the world went double before it clicked back into place, like a melody and its backing beat being ripped out of synch.

"Our current best guess is that it's not actually here at all," Foaly commented, digging a hoof in the ground. "I think we're just seeing an afterimage, and it's actually somewhere else."

"It's… in another dimension, and overlapping into this one," Aqua thought aloud. "I wonder. What if it's actually where we're from right now, and we're seeing it projected in here?"

"Where would that be, Aqua?" Ventus asked, curious.

"Well, we basically made a giant horseshoe in this cave…"

Foaly muttered something inaudible under his breath.

"So it would be on the far side of the Play Island back on the other side. Where the obstacle course was set up. We should split up and send someone back."

Terra and Ventus looked at Aqua, Terra frowning.

"If it's on the other side, two of us should go. You, and someone else," Terra insisted, idly thumping his tail in the dirt. "You… don't have a Keyblade anymore."

"And that's the keyword I was expecting," Artemis said smugly.

"Key… oh no," Foaly groaned. "My nephew is obsessed with those games."

"I've never played them, but they pasted the adverts thick up in Dublin," Artemis elaborated. "I saw that photo of your friend and…"

"Wait. **Games**?!" Aqua asked. "What do you mean, **games**?"

Artemis took out a phone, ticking away, facing the screen to everyone else. A short movie played.

"Video games. Do you not have them in your dimension?"

"We… do, but… what is Sora doing in that ad?" Terra asked, confused.

"It's like the demons and that romance novel they took as gospel," Artemis said under his breath. "Fiction in one dimension, life in another."

Aqua sighed. "I guess it's not so weird. We have fictional stories back home that turned out to be true. I just… can't imagine running around in a game as Sora." Aqua shook her head clear. "Terra and Ven, who's coming back, and who's staying here?"

* * *

"-so then Eri goes into Lapin Angelique, and we hear a **scream**," a Reaper girl giggled.

About twenty of them were crammed around a massive low table, laden with spicy smelling food on thin spongy crepelike bread. Most had taken off their uniforms to some degree- Sora realized if he concentrated, he could phase his wings through the bulky sweatshirt to yank it off- and he was starting to pick out a few voices from the morning. Jun had dragged Sai out with them, who was shivering from a Reaper's wings cutting invisibly though his body, but happy to be included. Neku and his own group stuck around, laughing and stuffing their faces with fava beans and cabbage.

Vanitas's Flood had vanished entirely when his second wing was attached, and still hadn't resurfaced.

"Oh, man, you don't want to enter Lapin, not unless you want to be Princess K's next '**Project'**," Jun said, rolling the lazy Susan to get at a potato stew.

"Project?" Tomo asked, worriedly. "Does this princess perform experiments on Reapers?"

Most of the table laughed loudly, Neku almost choking on his food.

"Hey if you die again today, you're in good company," one of the girl Reapers jeered at him. He flipped her a middle finger and downed some yogurt to temper the spice.

Jun shook his head out. "Experiments of the **fashion**kind. She runs a goth-loli store in A East, and designs most of the stuff there herself. Think big poofy dresses or Steampunk suits- er, big belts, vests, tailcoats, and the like. If a classic vampire would wear it, she's made it."

When Tomo still looked confused, Jun clarified. "There's clothes, then there's **clothes**. There's stuff that you wear to cover yourself, sure, but if you see a shop with a Reaper in it, our stuff's special. We put wards and spells on the clothing. Princess's stuff is the most powerful on the market, but her spells come at a price, usually sapping your energy. Also yen, and a lot of it."

Riku and Sora gave each other a knowing glance. They were familiar with magicked vestments.

"So the stuff we got today all have spells on?" Sora asked.

"You didn't read the tags?" Jun asked. "Living can't see the wards, but you should've. Sorry. I just assumed you knew that, since you were in Reaper you were in Reaper vestments."

"I… didn't know to look… today was my first day," Sora admitted.

"Oh hey, so we have four virgins tonight!" one of the girls cried. "You're one of those Americans, right? Yousuke?"

"Youta." The world still felt weird on his tongue, and Neku shot him a quizzical look.

"People call me Lilly, and this is Yuri," she explained, pointing to herself and the other girl Sora met that morning at check-in. "And yeah, if you value your dignity, don't go in Lapin. Not unless you want to be dragged half the day for a makeover," she added, giggling. "Though her stuff **is**super cute. At least now Eri's willing to accept 'abducted by the Loli-Queen' as a valid excuse for missing your shift."

Shiki swallowed her bite of food. "Aww, I like her stuff though! I know when we were in the game I suggested one of her tailcoats to Neku and he ran out embarrassed."

Neku turned three shades of red and shoved an entire injera in his mouth.

"Oh come on, it's not like I was asking you to wear a dress!"

Neku swallowed. "It's just not my style- her stuff is way too formal looking."

"Maybe if you stepped outside your comfort zone for five seconds, Mister Basketball Shorts… dear god you men never dress up, ever."

Rhyme, Lilly, and Yuri nodded in agreement.

"Well excuse us for having to wear a uniform," one of the male Reapers Sora didn't recognize griped.

"Do you have to wear it **now**?" Shiki asked, arms crossed.

"We had a six hour shift, cut me some slack! I didn't get to go back to the bunkhouse to change."

"Nope, never!" Rhyme cried, giggling. "At least show us the shirt under that giant hoodie."

"No, not gonna happen."

"Dooooo it," Beat hollered at him. "Thousand yen says it's an otaku shirt if you're not taking your hoodie off after hours."

The poor teenage-looking boy turned pink, but pulled off his hoodie.

Sora almost bit his own tongue when he saw the Reaper's shirt.

He, Donald, and Goofy were on it.

* * *

"Kairi?"

"Whats up, Mabel? Can't sleep?"

"Mhmmm. There's just a week left of break before we have to go back to… **Piedmont**."

"Not a good place?"

"It's not bad, it's just… Booooooooooooring."

Kairi laughed. "I know how you feel. I did a lot of waiting at home while my best friends went on cool adventures."

Mabel frowned. "But you're on a cool adventure now, right?"

"Well, it's more of a rescue mission, Mabel. But yes. I am."

"What changed?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why weren't you doing cool things with your friends before?"

"Mabel, you're twelve, right?"

"I'll be thirteen in a week!"

"Well, when I was about six months younger than you are now, my world… it was ripped apart. I got flung around, and eventually my friend Sora found me. And he used some special magic to wake me up again, but it turned him into a demon."

"Lea said he was a demon for a bit too, right?"

"Yeah, but not the same kind. Sora had a demon body, but he knew who he was. Lea… had the opposite happen to him. His body was his, but turning into a demon ripped out his conscience. He did some very bad things as a demon. Including kidnapping me."

And… you were younger than me?" Mabel shivered a little.

"Well, when Demon-Lea- he was called Axel by the way- when Axel kidnapped me I was about thirteen or fourteen? Times a bit of a blur. But when Sora was turned into one, yeah, I was younger than you. You know what happened though? I discovered I wasn't so useless. I used my magic and turned him back to a human again. Er, enough of one, at least. It's a bit complicated."

"Maybe if my brother and I both ask real nice together Mom and Dad will get us a PlayStation for Hanukkah. Then we could just play the games."

"Right… our lives are games here." Kairi's smile fell a little. "I'm not sure how I feel about that, to be honest."

Mabel quickly changed the subject. "That was some cool fire magic earlier."

Kairi smiled a bit. "Yeah, Lea taught me that trick."

"It's cool you're friends with him. I don't know if I'd ever forgive someone that just kidnapped me and took me away."

"Well, people change. And he's made an honest effort to atone for what he did while he was Axel, even though it wasn't truly him. Growing up is learning when to accept someone's apology and start over."

"Soooooo… if I wanted to learn that spell?"

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Talk to your uncles first. And if they're okay with it, **then **I'll teach you. Deal?"

Mabel grinned. "Deal!"

"Go to bed before I use a sleep spell on you," Kairi insisted.

"You can do that?"

Kairi smirked, and Mabel squeaked, heading back up to the attic.

"Kairi… um, thanks!" she cried from the stairwell, before all Kairi could hear was the patter of her feet.

Kairi pulled out her phone. 11PM, Monday the 23rd. Hopefully she wasn't waking Sora or Riku wherever they were right now, and added them both into the group chat.

She inhaled, and pressed the conference call button.

At the very least, it was worth a shot.

* * *

Neku and his friends walked Sora, Riku, Tomo, and Vanitas back to Joshua's apartment block.

"I need to be heading home. It's over an hour on the express back to Hachioji."

"Over an hour… you don't live here, Neku?"

"Rhyme and I do," Beat offered.

"I live in Setagaya, it's not far, but it's not technically in Shibuya. And you guys can't leave this district, right?"

Sora shook his head. "Seems like Joshua had to do something special just to get Riku here from where he was."

"You didn't end up in Shibuya when you… ahem… died?"

"They said it was a place called Shinjuku."

Neku went white as a sheet. "Fuck. **Fuck**. I am glad Joshua found you."

"My twin did, actually," Komaeda explained.

"Oh… yeah, forgot to mention, I got him the stuff you gave me," Neku said, gravely. "Things aren't looking great over there, but I've been funneling the Reapers everything I can."

Now Sora and his friends paled, and a small chirruping sound could be heard. Vamitas's shadow, lengthened by the streetlamps, began to boil.

"Ummmmm… please don't tell me I'm seeing Noise, because that is not a good sign, yo," Beat whimpered.

Vanitas's Flood popped out, chirping.

"Oh my god, its so cute!" Shiki cried, as the creature bounded out.

"Oh my god, we can see it," Neku deadpanned.

"Well, Vanitas's power doesn't come from being a Reaper or being dead, so I guess now that you can see him…" Riku reasoned.

"Get back here, you cretin," Vanitas hissed at it. "You'll scare the normies. And what's the deal with this Shinjuku place? People keep talking about it like it's Hell."

"That's… not far off," Komaeda said, kicking the ground. "It didn't used to be **that **bad, but three months or so ago Coco was named Conductor. And she's made that place her personal Hell."

"Wait… Riku, isn't Uriel the angel in charge of Shinjuku though? She's… well… she's something, but she's not a jerk."

"Uriel got transferred from Roppungi two months ago for pissing off the high angels; she's trying to rein Coco in but that woman is a beast. And the Conductor makes the rules. The angel in charge of a district is actually still beholden to its Conductor, even though they're higher in rank." Komaeda frowned. "No dead has survived Coco's games. Period. You become a Reaper, or Erased, really. Because Neku's not dead, I've asked him to help me funnel supplies to them. Heck, she's even kicked all the Reapers out of their bunkhomes. They're sleeping in the streets. And now that Joshua's stolen one of her playthings, I bet every yen I have she's out for blood. She's still a Reaper though, so unless she has Uriel's blessing she can't leave Shinjuku. Right now, that's everyone's only saving grace."

The group was silent.

"So yes, she's holding the Reapers under her hostage. My brother included."

"And we're all just going to stand here and not go kick her ass?" Vanitas growled.

"Er, not that I disagree with the sentiment, Vanitas, but since when are you…" Tomo said, gesturing at him.

"She's a **Xehanort**," he said, his Flood popping back out and running around a leg.

Tomo closed his eyes. "Fair. But we can't leave the district, or charge in blind."

"Then I'm going to shake everything I can out of this Uriel person until she tells me how to shred Coco."

"I'll bring them all food and blankets tomorrow, don't worry," Neku said, with a small smile. "This has been all of my summer vacation, and I don't regret a minute of it. The look on Coco's face is priceless. I'm alive, and she can't harm me. Not after the wards the angels put on me when I beat their game last time."

"We all will," Shiki added. "I live here, so it's easier for me to move around, though I don't have the same kind of protections Neku does."

"Same," Rhyme added. "We don't have much money, but Joshua and his angel friends get us as much as they can spare, and as much magic as they can to keep us safe."

"Anyway, I have a train to catch, and you five should get some sleep," Neku said, lightly.

Komaeda yawned, the final straw.

"Hey, are you all just going to loudly say your plans to dethrone a Conductor, or are you gonna come upstairs?" a voice called from above them. The five Reapers looked up, while Neku and his friends didn't spot a glance.

Gabriel shot down onto the pavement below, and Shiki coughed in surprise.

"Watch it, I don't need a heart attack, yo!" Beat cried.

"Right, you're all **alive**. Laaaaame," Gabriel whined. "Komaeda, when I said come upstairs, I meant you too. I already called Eri, you're staying with us tonight. I even went and picked up some jammies for you."

Komaeda's head fell.

"You're also not on duty tomorrow. Josh is putting you five on recon. There's a lead on Yozora, and y'all ain't gonna like it."

"Yazora?" Neku asked skeptically.

"Long story, go watch some Kingdom Hearts cutscenes on NicoNico tonight, and catch yourselves up."

"Oh, right, the game," Neku said, slightly embarrassed.

"Whoever voiced you in the DS game sounded like they were in their thirties," Shiki said, elbowing Neku.

"I am very lost," Tomo said, shaking his head.

Gabriel cracked her fingers. "I get to blow people's minds twice in twenty four hours with my gaming rig? Hooooo, this is a lucky week."

* * *

Luck has nothing to do with it, Ven," Terra moaned. "You're cheating somehow."

"Am not. I lost every time, so you get to go with Aqua."

"Nobody loses rock-paper-scissors ten times in a row."

"I just did," Vanitas grinned, fluttering his wings for emphasis. "You two go."

"Four," Artemis insisted.

"What?"

"Butler and I will accompany. And before you protest- I have dimension hopped before."

Aqua pointed an accusatory finger, before sighing. "You will keep a safe distance from any danger, you will stray no more than a foot from me unless told otherwise, and you will follow all of my instructions to the letter. And if I tell you to go back, you do."

"Acceptable."

"Ven, you, Foaly, and Holly stay here. Don't leave this spot unless there's no other choice."

Ventus nodded.

"If I'm not driving, you'll need to take the Stick back there," Foaly chided. Butler looked a little green.

"It's their equivalent of a subway system," Artemis explained. "And it is not designed with humans in mind."

* * *

Terra took a moment to stretch, and appreciate his return to human form.

He appreciated being as tall as Butler even more.

"Satisfied?" Aqua asked Artemis, as she scanned the shoreline.

"Yes, although I wish I'd known the other side led to a beach. Lovely sunrise, by the way."

Aqua nodded. "This way to where we'd need to be."

* * *

Aqua was right. On the far side of the Island swirled a menacing Demon Tower for real.

"-can ~~ buy these games?"

"On ~ surface, ~~, though you'd ~~ something ~~~ on…"

Foaly's and Ven's voices drifted in broken chunks from the tower.

"Artemis and Butler," Aqua hissed sternly. "You are to stay here. If it gets dangerous, retreat to the portal immediately. Are we clear?"

Artemis nodded.

"Terra, flank it and aim for its core. I'll pincer with magic."

Terra nodded, twined the fingers of his left hand with her right.

"Time to kick ass."

* * *

"Time to ~~ ass."

Ventus stared in shock at the Demon Tower.

"Terra?" he asked it worriedly.

"Ven?" Terra's voice called back, just before the tower shuddered, whipping up into a frenzy, before pieces split off.

And the small Heartless it sloughed onto the water in front of Ventus plopped with a very real splash before dragging themselves up and over the sides of the spring.

"I am not cut out for fighting!" Foaly cried, shaking in his hooves.

"That's fine," Ventus said with a small smirk. "I am."

He flicked his fingers, and Wayward Wind pulsed in his fingertips. Quickly, he shot off a series of targeted Aero spells before skidding on the air to close the gap.

"~core. ~~ your side," Aqua cried out, as Ventus saw the ghosted afterimage of a Thundaza spell.

The Demon Tower's core shone with more stability and clarity than the Heartless surrounding it. Ven grit his teeth and flapped his wings. Flying on physical power was very very different than flying by magic, but the aerodynamics were the same. He closed the distance between himself and the core, and began to wail on it mercilessly.

* * *

"Firaza!" Aqua might have been a Keyblade Master with no Keyblade, but spells were her strongest suit anyway. Finding Rainfell would be a task for another-

-day.

She didn't know why she held out her arm for it, it had been lost to Xehanort ages ago. But there it was, cool and glistening with dew in her hand.

She smirked, and then screamed loudly as she held it aloft, channeling her energy with it.

"Meteor," she hissed, followed by a quick, "**DUCK**!"

* * *

When Aqua, Terra, Artemis, and Butler returned, Ventus was wrapped in three thick blankets and soaking wet.

"Great warning," he mumbled through chittering teeth.

"Oh, no, Ven, you're soaked through!" Aqua said, doting. "Sit still and I'll suck out the water okay?"

Aqua pressed a hand to his shirt, plastered with cold water to his skin, and pulled away, dragging all the water out of his clothing and flinging the ball of it into the spring.

"Hands, please," she insisted, and laced her fingers with his, murmuring. He felt warm and dry almost immediately.

"Thanks, I'm good," Ventus said, grinning sheepishly. "I can use modified Fire spells myself you know."

"Well, I'm still older than you," she insisted, mussing up his hair.

Terra waddled on stumpy demon legs to look over at the spring itself. Not a Heartless left in sight.

Holly followed, peering down. "Crystal clear. So, Ven said those were Heartless?"

Terra nodded. "We have some where we're from, though numbers have dropped off as of late. Some are natural- that thing in your spring being one- but a very bad man was also manufacturing them, too."

"What the- who would do something like that? Why?"

"Academic curiosity, a lust for power, a desire to do the right thing that was corrupted by means-to-ends," Terra said softly, clutching his heart.

Holly frowned. "Sounds like you knew this man personally."

"He possessed me for over twelve years," Terra said, eyes haunted and looking down at the pool. "I was even one of them for a while."

Holly made a funny move with her hands, like she wanted to say something but couldn't. Finally she shook her head, and settled.

"But you're talking in past tense. It's over."

Terra looked at his reflection in the spring, all black lizard skin and armor plating. It wasn't him, and yet it was.

He exhaled low. "**My **face, not hi-"

His phone blared, and so did Aqua and Ven's.

"Kairi?" he asked, picking up, extremely confused.

* * *

Sora wanted to hold Vanitas's hand, to ground him, but knew better than to just touch him.

Just because he'd shown improvement today didn't mean it was going to be quick or easy. Sora knew better than most what it was like dealing with mental trauma, before looking over at Riku in the elevator.

Riku just frowned at his reflection in the steel, spared a single glance at Vanitas's bubbling shadow, and pulled his wings in just a little tighter so as not to smack Tomo with them.

Komaeda had flown back up to the patio with Gabriel, but the four of them took the elevator instead.

The elevator dinged, and Vanitas's shadow erupted, the Flood flying out, jumping into Sora's arms.

It was shaking.

Sora cooed, and rocked it a little. "Come on, Flood, we are just going to the angels for bed.

"**Just **being the operative word," Vanitas said under his breath.

"Joshua will not hurt you," Riku said. "And if he tries, I'll punch him in the groin."

"I'll stab him in the eye!" Tomo added.

"I'll um… push him out the window?" Sora added, bouncing the Flood like he were soothing a small child.

"Sora, he can fly," Vanitas growled.

"It's the thought, right?"

Vanitas sighed. "Whatever, let's get this over with before that cretin turns ten feet tall."

"That **cretin **needs a name, you know," Sora pouted. "You're going to be introducing it to a lot more people."

"He's a Flood, so that's what he is."

"Flood?" Uriel asked, leaning on the door to their apartment. "Very Biblical, I approve."

Sora looked down at Flood in his hands. "You can't name it Flood, that's like naming your dog Dog!"

"And who named their fish Fish in first grade?" Riku and Tomo asked simultaneously, before Tomo covered his mouth.

"I… ugh… fine!"


	13. re:course

_**i'm back from pax and got con crud. please excuse me as i burn through five boxes of tissues. yuck.**_

_**as always, thank you for your continued support. next chapter will be the last chapter of the first third of the story. while TWEWY is split into seven days/seven missions, this one is in three distinct chunks that will make more sense once chapter 14 is done. astute readers will probably be able to figure out what ends this segment of the story.**_

_**i also wanted to take a quick moment to place where each of the stories actually fits, timeline wise with their respective franchises.**_  
_**-twewy takes place six months after the end of the game, and loosely covers the final mix "one more day" mission with coco. VERY loosely, mind you. i mostly took the idea that she completely destroyed shinjuku, and that's about it.**_  
_**-mary poppins takes place post movie, an unspecified amount of time later. i haven't seen returns, so its ignored. yes, we will get back to her, but it's going to be a while. i have plans for the vexen/isa/naminé team.**_  
_**-muppets takes place during the 2011 film, from about halfway or so to the end**_  
_**-FFXV takes place about a third of the way in, when lestallum is available to the player. no, it doesn't go off continent, so its not going to cover altissa or starscourge at all. i know a bunch of people were asking, but i decided to just take one piece of the setting and the chocobros, ffxv is just too darn vast to condense the whole story into a side plot, and kingdom hearts either takes just a story piece (eg olympus) or rushes way too fast through the entire plot of a movie (tangled). sorry if that disappoints, but it's just too much stuff to cover.**_  
_**-artemis fowl takes place between books 5 and 6 (the lost colony and the time paradox).**_  
_**-gravity falls takes place from just before ep 37 through to 40 (dipper and mabel vs the future to weirdmageddon). most of you correctly guessed what is going to get covered.**_

* * *

Chapter Text

"AURGH!"

Sora dropped down on the carpet in the foyer, not even enough time to take his shoes off at the door before he ate dirt.

His wings flapped erratically, like he'd shoved a fork in an electrical socket, his left side spasming without any sort of control.

Flood screeched, and began to grow.

"Vanitas!" Tomo breathed out, trying to keep himself from yelling and making the teen panic further. "**Breathe**."

Riku attempted to help Sora steady himself, but Joshua pushed his way between him.

"First day of getting your wings- you flew too much," he said authoritatively. "You've pulled at least one muscle, and I'm going to help."

Sora stuttered out, "**Please**. Hurts."

Flood froze, as did Vanitas. He grit his teeth as he saw Sora so readily accept Joshua linking his arms under Sora's, pulling him into a sitting position.

"Relax your shoulders, and breathe slowly," Joshua said calmly.

Sora hissed with pain.

Komaeda and Gabriel walked into the foyer from the balcony, both frowning. Komaeda knelt to Sora's back, and opened up a hand to him.

"Master Joshua's right. You tread too much air today. I should have been more attentive," they added, leaning closer. "Can I touch your back? It will probably hurt."

Sora nodded weakly, gritting his teeth. Flood shrunk, and nudged at Sora; Vanitas felt his own hackles calm a hair, despite being in the same small room as the young-appearing man who had threatened him that morning.

The claustrophobia was already beginning to get to Vanitas, but his worry for Sora's own pain overrode even that.

Since when did he ever worry about someone else? **Ever**? Maybe because up until that morning, he had to spend too much mental power worrying about his own hide to care.

Komaeda prodded, and Sora let out an unholy scream, tears streaking down his face.

"Okay, yeah, he's torn the sprainer," Komaeda muttered.

"Sprainer?" Riku asked, worried.

"The infraspinatus," Joshua said, frowning, as if that meant anything. "We split that muscle group in two- half continues up the shoulders into the arm, and the new split starts at the base of the wing, and they move in opposing directions. Most Reapers not familiar with human anatomy call it the sprainer, or the splitter. For the reason I just mentioned, plus how easy it'll tear until you're used to flying. Sora, I'm going to need to hypnotize you. If I just knock you out, you won't be able to tell me if its set properly. Is this okay?"

Sora didn't even hesitate, he just nodded.

Vanitas's mouth almost hit the floor. Sora trusted Joshua **completely**. The hellbeast that had nearly left him in shock that morning.

"Flood, back off," Vanitas hissed, as he finally un-tensed his own shoulders and patted the floor next to him as he sat down. Flood scurried into his lap, back to normal size, but squeaking and nudging towards Sora. Riku and Tomo flanked him, sitting on the floor. Komaeda continued to hold Sora steady while putting their own head down, closing their eyes.

"Sora, follow my fingers," Joshua commanded. "And look at my eyes."

Joshua's voice changed from a single sound to a pleasant, almost inhuman chorus. "The rest of you. Don't look directly at me," Joshua added, hastily. "Sora, focus on me," he commanded, snapping his fingers to get Sora to look straight ahead. "Right now, your pain isn't yours. As I speak, it's just seeping out of your back, and into your clothes. I'm going to help you take off your sweatshirt first, and any of that pain in you that's gone into your sweatshirt, when I take it off, it goes too. Understand?"

"Yes," Sora mumbled, unfocused, under the angel's thrall.

"I asked you if you understand me," Joshua repeated, Gabriel reappearing from wherever she'd slunk off to get some kind of strange white fabric and silver metal device.

"Yes," Sora repeated.

"Do not break eye contact," Joshua insisted, as he quickly pulled off Sora's sweatshirt, phasing it through his wings. "How is the pain?"

"Less."

"It's about halved, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Let's get rid of the other half now. Put the rest of your pain in your shirt. I'm going to take that off next."

"Okay."

Joshua flung off Sora's shirt.

"How is it?"

"Numb."

"Good, good," Joshua said soothingly. "Look at me Sora." Joshua snapped his fingers, and Sora shifted to attention, his wings immediately snapping up behind him, though his left twitched erratically.

Vanitas wondered exactly how much that would be hurting if Sora weren't under Joshua's spell. A **lot**, by the way it was flailing at a wild angle.

Joshua spoke in his normal voice, addressing Komaeda. "Hold his wings in neutral. Gabriel will brace them in place."

"Yessir."

Komaeda stood up, still holding Sora's arm on the side with the torn muscle, and pulled their fingers through the lace openings of Sora's wings, yanking up hard until Sora's wings folded up high on his back. Gabriel shimmied behind them, carrying small plastic pipes, straps, and metal D hooks. She held one of the pipes to his back, twisting it to adjust the length between his wingblades, and began to snap up the straps- a harness- around it until Komaeda let go.

"Sora, I want you to try and move the upper part of your wings. Imagine it's your arm, I want you to only move the parts above the elbow, to your hands."

Sora fluttered the part not harnessed easily.

"Are the straps okay? Are they hurting you anywhere?"

"No."

"Sora needs a splint, too. To keep the weight off," Gabriel mused. "Komaeda, keep his wing steady."

Gabriel worked quickly, trussing up his left side more. "Now it's all in place. Josh, you want to do the rest of the magic?"

"He already smells like you," Joshua said, snapping his fingers a few times to get Sora to put his focus back on him.

"Point taken," Gabriel said, before laying hands directly on Sora's back. She pressed a few points, sparking with her magic.

"That's the best he's getting. It's healed in the right way but it is going to hurt," Gabriel said, after a few moments of silent concentration. "Next time you tell someone how to fly, Josh, you give them more than a shove out the balcony."

"It wasn't a shove!" Joshua cried in defense as he accidentally dropped hold on Sora, who groaned loudly and blinked the mesmer out of his eyes.

"Owwwww," he whined, realizing he couldn't move the shoulder joints of his wings. "It feels like you tied my arms behind my back," he complained.

"How's the pain?" Komaeda asked gently.

Sora blinked a few more times and shook out his head. Vanitas saw Sora's blown-out dilated pupils refocus and the last of the hypnosis gone with it.

How Sora trusted anyone, especially these people, Vanitas couldn't even place. Flood jumped from his spot stretching on his own lap to chitter happily at Sora's knees, demanding attention again.

"Oh! It's.. not gone but it's a lot better. I'm not crying, at least," he admitted, wiping away the streaks with the back of his in-bandaged hand.

"Sure the contacts aren't helping," Gabriel commented, and reached forward to pull something out of Sora's eye. He blinked, and his eye was blue again; Gabriel slotting away the small lens she'd taken into a plastic case. She did the other one, before running a nail under Sora's wig to peel it off, revealing the worst hat hair Sora ever had the misfortune of having.

"Be glad we caught that early," Uriel said from the kitchen counter.

"**We**?" Joshua asked, giving her side eye. "You didn't do a thing, Uri."

"You already had two nurses, there's no room for more," Uriel countered, as a kettle hissed. "And I was making everyone tea since all of you are **lame **and **sober**."

Vanitas glared at the flaming redhead at the bar.

"**Uri**. You're not Uriel, are you?" he growled.

"And?" she asked pointedly, as Sora took off his shoes, groaning from effort, standing with Tomo's help.

"You're going to tell me about Coco. Now."

Uriel perked an eyebrow. "What, so you can work under her?"

"If what I've heard is true she's due for a boot to her ass."

Uriel quietly prepared eight cups for tea, smiling lightly.

"You're going to be the one to do it then? You've lost your magic and magic sword haven't you?"

"I'll bleed her dry if I have to," Vanitas said, glaring. Flood scampered up his shoulder and huffed in agreement.

Uriel nodded slightly. "Are you sure? She's a demon and a half. Someone higher than me clearly likes her because she's got power no Conductor in their right mind should have."

"I'm already dead. What have I got to lose?"

Uriel was quiet, studying Vanitas for a while as she poured boiling water in the cups and took out some small pastries for each tiny plate.

"Thank God. Joshua told me what your little friend could do. I need all the help I can get."

* * *

Ienzo tapped a knee, bouncing it with nothing else to keep occupied. Usually he'd have a pen, or a measuring tool to fiddle with, but the disused stage was bare, save some carefully looped rope and cable in the wings.

"A talent show?" Xion asked, the group sitting around considering their options.

"Not just a talent show," Walter said, excited. "An old-fashioned telethon! People call in with donations."

"You could also stick a QR code on the screen that links directly to a GoFundMe," Walter's human friend- actually, his brother Gary, the three current and former Nobodies discovered- piped in. "Put it as a screen overlay so people could donate straight from their phones."

Kermit put a hand to his chin. "I'm not so… er… hip on this new technology stuff. But if you think it'll help I'm all ears."

"All ears? Kermit, you've got no ears at all, wakka wakka wakka!" A bear with an infectious laugh slapped at his knee. Ienzo hadn't been formally introduced to Kermit's incredibly motley crew of performers (other than the blue one with the long nose warning him to be sensitive around the pig-woman as she and Kermit had once been married). He almost felt bad remembering them by species. He knew many of the worlds he'd traveled in found that kind of classification kind of offensive, though these dolls actually didn't seem to mind.

"Fozzie, save the jokes for the show," the blue one reminded him. "All of us are a bit rusty, anyway."

"Yeah, yeah." Fozzie replied, sullen. "So, who's the new guy?" he asked, gesturing vaguely at Ienzo, Roxas, and Xion's part of the circle.

"Who… me?" Ienzo asked, worried.

"No, the one who had the giant keys during the street show."

If Roxas could blush, he would have been red from head to toe. "**Me**? You want me on stage? It was Ienzo's idea. I literally just got dragged along for the ride."

"But you pulled those things from nowhere! I've done a bit of magic and I have no clue how you did it. Your sleight of hand was too fast," Blue Long-Nose commented.

Ienzo and Roxas side eyed each other. "A magician never reveals their secrets," Ienzo said, gravely. It was the excuse Even, later Vexen, had drilled into him from when he was young when he was to go to a world where magic didn't actually exist. In those worlds, usually some form of performative 'magic' did, and it was an easy cop out for hiding that he was an actual wizard, rather than someone merely in possession of hidden flint or a rubber thumb.

"Fair," Blue replied, nodding sagely. "But how much prep does the thing need? Could you two do it again on stage, on camera?"

The lie worked as usual, and Ienzo looked to Roxas.

Roxas rapped the floor with a finger, the felt depressing every time he tapped the ground. Far more than a human finger with bones would ever be able to do.

"Let me check something," was all Roxas provided. He stood up, and crossed his arms. Two purple-black corridors appeared before him, and a pair of white marionettes sprang from them. A pair of wooden swords crisscrossed their backs and they clacked obnoxiously as they danced in place.

Samurai Nobodies in this world took the shape of **puppets**.

"It's not the same as the ones in the crosswalk, but I think these will make the audience a little less afraid?" Roxas asked the group. "Plus…" he added, smirking, before nodding in the direction of his summoned minions. "From what Gonzo said earlier I think we could use a little slapstick."

Ienzo cursed internally for forgetting another of their new friends' names as Roxas mentally commanded one of his legion to take out a wooden sword, decapitating the other. The wooden head bounced a few times on the stage floor as its owner, headless and panicked, ran for it and tripped over it. The second one ambled to the dropped puppet head, flicked it in the air with the tip of his sword, and shoved the headless Samurai under it as it fell… backwards onto the neck. The agitator slapped at the loose head with the butt of his sword, sending it spinning like a top on the neck of the uncoordinated one until it finally screwed back on, face in the correct direction.

Their group was howling with laughter as the two Samurai stood together, bowed, and bounced back into their portals.

"Okay, that's gold," Gonzo said between wheezes. "I don't even want to know how you did that."

Roxas just shrugged and smiled. "Magnetic personality?"

* * *

Sora adjusted on his futon on Gabriel's floor, doing his darndest to get comfortable. Having wings was bad enough, but having them trussed up in such a way that they prevented him from sleeping on his back was **torture**. Flood trying to squeeze itself first at Sora's back, then under his neck like an elevated pillow was almost adorable.

"You should probably take a bath, Sora," Gabriel said, wagging a finger at him from her gaming chair.

"With this on?" Sora flapped the untethered upper part of his wings in protest, and his left spasmed for a moment before the harness locked up and pulled it even tighter in position.

"It's waterproof. You don't think this is the first time I've had to hogtie a new Reaper who didn't fly properly? And no taking it off either. I healed your muscle but it's still weak. You're grounded until one of us says you're cleared."

"Then… how am I supposed to help tomorrow?"

"Um, duh. You have legs. **Walk**. Go take a bath. All of you."

Riku paled, massaging his scalp now that the wig had been peeled off him too. "At the same time?"

Gabriel pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bunch'a prudes. See, when I first was assigned to Japan I thought everyone was prudish, at least until bathtime."

Komaeda, who had finally pulled off their sweatshirt and sat at the foot of Gabriel's massive AV unit, tilted their head. "I'm guessing communal bathing isn't a thing where you're from."

Sora, Riku, and Tomo shook their heads rapidly, while Vanitas just shrugged.

"It's okay, I usually woke up in the middle of the night to wash in peace," Komaeda admitted, playing with the hem of their tank top. Komaeda was tiny under the massive clothing- some muscle definition, but for the most part, tiny and rail thin, with loose wisps of short black hair swept sideways. "You all go in rotation, I can wait."

"I'll go last, then…" Sora said, scratching the back of his neck, mindful of the brace. "I'll probably take longer."

"You know," Riku said, eyeing Vanitas carefully. "There's a saying on Olympus, when in Thebes…"

Sora turned crimson.

"It's that or make Komaeda wait for us," Riku insisted. "Because I know you won't go until we're done, will you?"

Komaeda snorted. "Course not."

"And how am I supposed to wash these without help?" Riku added, flapping his own wings gently. "Let alone, you getting yours."

* * *

It had really been a ploy to get Vanitas to show Riku his lower half, just as poorly scarred as what Sora had seen earlier in the Jupiter of the Monkey clothing shop.

Vanitas actually tried to cocoon himself in his own wings in the bathroom.

"You do know there's giant holes between your wing splines, right?" Tomo asked gently, kneeling next to Vanitas without actually touching him.

"Just… make it quick," Vanitas grumbled.

"I can help, if you don't mind. It'll speed up the time," Tomo offered, looking at his other.

Vanitas grunted, and begrudgingly opened up to them, while Sora grabbed a bottle of shampoo.

"Hey, if this is too much I'll go away, but why don't I get your hair?"

"Get my… what now?" Vanitas asked, confused.

"Well, Flood likes head pats, so…"

Vanitas pulled his legs to his chest. "I'm… not used to this."

"What, people worrying about you?" Riku asked. "Get used to it quick, because Sora worries about everyone. I remember him griping to me for a good month after… well, after some issues we had where we'd separated. He was worried about Malificent of all people. **Malificent**! I'm going to assume even you know who she is."

"I mean, she did fight off a horde for Donald, Goofy, and I in Radiant Garden," Sora whined back, pointing an accusatory finger at Riku. "Of course I'm going to worry."

"She tried to kill you how many times?"

"**You**tried to kill me how many times?"

The room went dead silent, save a slow drip from the taps.

"I never got to say I'm sorry," Tomo said quietly.

"You didn't do anything," Sora quickly affirmed.

"Maybe not, but I have all of Riku's memories of it. So, it might not have been my body, but…"

Vanitas hissed through gritted teeth. "Heart to heart **later**. I've been psyching myself up for the last five minutes so **take care of this now before I blow my stack**."

Riku and Tomo looked at each other, equal shades of surprise and worry. "Your problem isn't less important," Riku insisted to Tomo, as he gently pressed the heel of his palm to Vanitas's ankle, "but it is less critical."

Tomo sighed and threw himself into charging up a specialty heal of his own. "Yeah."

Sora shuffled behind Vanitas. "I'm going to touch your head, and if its too much I'll hold Flood instead, okay?"

Vanitas just made a pained **mph**sound, and Sora, ever so slowly, pressed his fingertips into Vanitas's hair.

It was the same coarse mess Sora had, a surprise, since, outside of a few places, most of the Worlds Between didn't have people with such heavy, thick hair that stuck upright of its own accord.

Even Lea used hair gel; Sora had gotten a single glimpse of him- in the scant two days between rescuing Kairi and the beach party where he'd faded out of his world- when the near-thirty former apprentice of Ansem had gotten caught in a late summer Twilight Town rain. His thick spikes had gone hilariously flat almost immediately.

Only Ventus, Roxas, and Vanitas had hair exactly like this who hadn't been an Islander, and Roxas was a Nobody.

Considering Ven had been found, maybe he'd been from Destiny Islands, originally, then? Sora had never gotten the chance to ask. But given the relatively small population, if that were true..

"Vanitas, we might actually be related. I mean, we're not brothers or anything…"

Vanitas shook a little. "Excuse me?"

"Sora gets into these daydreams sometimes," Riku said. "And then he'll blurt out something he realized halfway in it. You get used to it."

"Excuse**me**for having a bunch of other people live in me since I was a toddler!" Sora shot back. "Not that I knew it when I was little. Just… sometimes, there was like an echo. More like a warning if I did something really obnoxiously stupid as a kid. I didn't realize it was Ven until only a few months ago. Mom just thought I had an imaginary friend."

"Her and everyone else until a few months ago," Riku joked back.

Vanitas snorted, and lowered his shoulders a little, the tips of his new wings brushing against the tile floor, before realizing that not a single person had actually attacked him that day.

The Noise did, sure, but he provoked them, and Sora and Riku was a spar. Deliberate, and **with permission**. And for all of his loud posturing, Joshua hadn't laid anything close to a finger on him, either, except to give him his wings.

He honestly couldn't remember the last time that had ever happened.

"Vanitas, can you stand? I think we're done." Riku's voice, though whether it had come from Riku or Tomo, Vanitas wasn't sure, as he'd actually started to nod off.

"Uh… yeah… sure." Riku and Tomo grabbed an arm each, and hoisted him up, and Vanitas closed his wings inward like a flytrap in defense of being touched, locking Sora to his back.

"Ack!" Sora cried.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Vanitas yelled on instinct, Flood pooling up at his feet.

Riku and Tomo let go showing their open palms; Vanitas began to breathe in pained breath.

"I…**sorry**," Vanitas muttered, after taking in gulps of steamed air, as he slowly disentangled his wings.

Sora started to say something, but Riku glared at him. "Sora, I know you're going to say he doesn't need to apologize. Let him do what he needs in his own time. I may not have been under his thrall for long, but Xehanort got me, too. I know how that feels. Vanitas, look, it's like all these scars. The worst of it's gone now- looks like we've gotten all the welts. But those little pinkish white lines aren't ever going to go away. And sometimes they might just hurt for no reason, too. And rarely, without warning, you might just rip one open."

"Like my wing?" Sora asked.

"Not really the metaphor I was going for, but yeah," Riku said, scratching the back of his neck. "Speaking of, you should probably soak in the tub and stop pulling on it."

"But it huuuuurts," Sora whined.

"Yeah, and if you rip it again you'll be a puddle on the floor," Riku said, rolling his eyes. "Now in, before I **toss**you in."

"You wouldn't!"

Riku grinned, but Vanitas slid in front, hefted Sora up, and dumped him in the massive ofuro, leaving Sora sputtering.

"You do know that means payback," Sora whined splashing water out at Vanitas.

His wings snapped back, and for a split second, he froze, then began to slowly breathe, almost growling. Flood chittered, and dived into the hot water, giving Vanitas the shock to his system that he needed to refocus. He quirked his mouth to a smirk, and vaulted into the tub, spraying hot water everywhere.

Riku was right, this was going to take time, and a lot of un-learning. And trust.

He exhaled. This was going to be work, but for the first time since he was his own person, separate and distinct from his idiot blonde-haired host, he had actual people on his side. As Tomo more delicately lowered himself into the hot water and Vanitas watched Flood dog-paddle around, squeaking and nudging everyone in a noisy bid for attention, Vanitas realized he might actually have friends.

* * *

"I… need a minute…" Donald said, weakly, still gripping the Regalia. "I cast that out of my own stamina."

Prompto tossed him a small bottle. "This might help," he hissed, before vaulting out of the car, aiming a pistol between the two glowing spheres that were Heartless eyes. He quickly unloaded a clip in them, but the thing ignored it and kept charging. Goofy pulled out his shield, flinging it like a chakram, knocking back the small oncoming horde.

Demnyx cracked his knuckles. He hated fighting, but being killed sucked more. And, in this dimension, he wasn't even sure that should he be offed, he'd even have the painful joy of recompletion.

"No thanks," he muttered under his breath, frowning. He needed an army to counter the rolling tide of Shadows in front of them. They weren't strong, not on their own, but they had numbers and the darkness to empower them.

He just needed a counter to the night. Summoning his sitar, he strummed, hearing a familiar sound behind him of the dimensional rift tearing like wet paper. He just hoped it had been his own doing and not more Heartless.

He spared a glance behind him, and a small army of his own had formed.

"Nobodies too?" Donald squawked.

"They're mine," Demyx reassured him. "And I suggest this time around, you all take cover. This many, and I can only give general directions."

"What?" Noctis asked, impaling a single Heartless with a spear. Demyx was impressed the kid was even dealing damage at all.

"Take cover!" Demyx roared, over a power chord. "It's not my style but it's about some time for some real heavy metal!"

Demyx could have sworn he heard the kid mutter "shitty battle cry", but chose to ignore it, and began to play.

The Dancers lept forward on giant spindly feet and began to swing each other in wide arcs, plowing down whole clumps of the shadows. Demyx moved up from C Major to G, and the Dancers followed his new song, bright and almost obnoxious in the middle of the dusty desert at three in the morning, stabbing through rows of the tiny beasts with their long, pink, hair-rope like appendages. Goofy had ducked and pulled Noctis and Prompto under his shield with him, while Ignis kept the car running and the floodlights on as much of the ground in front of them. Gladio dodged and wove around Demyx's army, cutting the remaining strays into bits with his great sword.

With the final few notes Demyx added for flourish, the Shadows were gone.

Gladio leaned on his broadsword. "Holy… okay. Let's scram."

Demyx dismissed his minions and nodded. "**Let's**."

* * *

"Better?" Gabriel asked, as she and Komaeda were angrily mashing buttons on a controller for a fighting game.

Sora nodded, rolling his shoulder.

"After how many new Reapers ruin their shoulders and backs, we've blessed the water."

"I noticed you had a few similar contraptions to Sora's harness on top of a shelf in there," Tomo admitted, flopping down on a futon, the entire floor covered with them, barely squeezing space for four plus Gabriel's gaming chair. "Riku, I hope you didn't overexert today. You flew just as much as Sora did."

Komaeda excused themselves to go wash up, and Gabriel stretched herself back, wings folded over the top of the shoulder rest.

Vanitas attempted to make himself comfortable, while Flood jumped on a pillow to smooth it down for a nest.

"Hey, Vanitas, you okay?" Sora asked, watching Flood curl up.

"Compared to what?" Vanitas asked, eyebrow raised.

"I mean… Flood hasn't come back to you. Your other two Unversed only show up when Noise do."

"They take effort to materialize. Flood just does what he wants," Vanitas said, after a while, though it was a valid observation.

"Fear isn't something you can just turn on and off. Especially if you've been abused as much as you have. Honestly, I'm just shocked you aren't trying to throttle me right now," Gabriel said, as she quit out of the game she was in and leaned over Riku's head to switch out disc cases.

"So. Mister Replica and Mister Dark and Broody. Want me to blow your minds?" She held up the game case, and Vanitas snatched it.

"It's… the Guardians of Light…" he muttered, confused.

"In this universe, we're video game characters," Sora explained. "And Joshua, Neku, Beat and Rhyme crossed paths with Riku and I when this world was destroyed and they ended up in Traverse Town. Actually… Gabriel, were you okay?"

"I got recalled home," she said with a shrug. "If you really want to get technical, us angels are basically aliens. In the same way you are when you go World hopping."

"I guess… I would be an alien even in a place like Radiant Garden…" Sora said, thinking. "That's kinda cool."

"And when you restored this world, everything got put back as if it were the moment right after. Nobody even knew, except the angels and the dead playing the game that week."

"How did it happen?" Tomo asked, worried, looking bemused over the game discs.

"We aren't totally sure, but there's two theories. Both of them boil down to 'demons did it.'"

* * *

"I understand helping them as a good thing to do, but… why?"

"I have a hunch, Xion," Ienzo said, tapping the side of his head with his fingers in a disjointed rhythm.

"Oh?" she asked, as she summoned her own Keyblade to practice some kata. Fozzie passed her carrying a bass guitar for the band.

"Just don't magic up some tomatoes, wakka-wakka," he laughed as he passed. "Any idea how hard it is getting that out of fur?"

Ienzo played with his phone. "I've been tracking the news. The heartless only showed up after there was already a crashed car on the street we were on, and people were watching."

"What, you think they only show up where people are paying a lot of attention?"

"Right now, it's only a theory, but yes. I'm sure with the technology here if another swarm occurred it would be broadcast very quickly."

"Well, it's worth a-"

Xion's and Ienzo's phones began to blare with ringtones, as did Roxas's, who was up on the stage with four summoned Samurai, trying to figure out a routine for the telethon with Gonzo.

"K… Kairi?" Ienzo asked, as he picked up.

* * *

"Hey, Gabriel," Riku asked, wincing slightly as he watched Tomo's avatar of him during his Mark of Mastery exam get flung into one of Traverse Town's brick facades by a giant panda Nightmare, trying to ignore the memory of that happening to him for real more times than he cared to admit.

"Sup?" she asked, grinning. She was watching real actual Kingdom Hearts characters playing Dream Drop Distance, a game with her own friends in it, and it was amazingly, wonderfully, nerdy and surreal. She was kind of getting fired up to ask her own conductor to do some Kingdom Hearts themed levels- what they called Reaper challenges back in Shibuya.

"We can't get our fee back unless we win, right?"

"Yeah, sorry. I can show it to you, but not even Joshua can return your fee. Technically, Riku, you A- don't even have one, given what happened, and B- you'd actually still need to beat Shinjuku's game. You might be under special protection, but that's where you got sorted, so that's what you'd need to beat. That, or the Conductor forfeits."

"Wait, does that mean if we can convince Joshua to let us go, we just… win?" Vanitas asked.

"Not Joshua. The Conductor; they're the ones actually issuing missions. Who, for Shibuya isssss…" she said with a grin. "Someone you know."

"You're pausing for dramatic effect," Riku said rolling his eyes. Tomo's timer ran out, and the game jolted to the character swap screen. He passed it off to Riku, who smirked at getting to control Sora.

"Of course I am. And it's Rhyme."

"**What**."

"But she's… not dead," Tomo said, confused.

"No, but she can still see Players, even after coming to life. Shiki and Neku don't know; only her brother does. We actually asked him first, when the old Conductor lost his seat. He said, and I quote, 'hell no, that is wack.' You didn't notice she was wearing pins?"

"I kind of just assumed they were sentimental," Riku grunted, as he used Flowmotion to zoom around three pandas with far more finesse than Tomo had displayed. "Do the other Reapers here know?"

"Only the lieutenants and squad leaders. She spars with me a few times a week, and she's almost as good as me. To be fair, I'm not one of the strongest angels by a long shot."

"So if we asked her to let us go…" Vanitas baited.

"She'd probably check with Josh first, but yeah, you'd be free."

"Then why aren't we? Riku was Tomo's fee."

"Doesn't matter, he still belongs to Shinjuku."

"That's bullshit," Vanitas spat.

"You're telling me. Why you think I've partnered up with Josh? I'm sick of some of the arbitrary shit the higher ups pull. '**Ohhhhhh, you two worked so hard together but we're only bringing one of you back to life, the other one needs to win next week'**, or '**hey, so over the course of the past week your partner became your best friend so now we're killing them again as your new entry fee'**. Bull**shit**. They just like watching this unfold like a crappy anime. They take **bets**. That's what happens when you're powerful, bored, and arrogant."

Gabriel's door creaked open, and Komaeda looked in, worried. "Rhyme is the Conductor?" they asked, worriedly.

"Secret's out, hope you'll keep it."

Komaeda turned red and squeezed in on the floor. "How does she go to Shinjuku to help?"

"**Carefully**," Gabriel replied. "And with Joshua's blessing. Shibuya is what happens when an angel and a Conductor work together for the better of those in it, and not stuck in some stupid petty power play. I'm happy to say my own district's the same. Shinjuku is what happens when two people with very different ideas coexist, and the one with more power steamrolls."

Gabriel looked down at her five charges from her chair. "'s getting late, and all of you should rest up. You may not be on duty tomorrow, but Josh's gonna want to be out the door early, when he knows Coco is asleep."

"You mean we're going there tomorrow?" Tomo asked.

"Depends. If he thinks its safe. You'd have his blessing to leave the city limits as long as he allows it. Otherwise, there's a few things he wants to check here in Shibuya. Anyway, I'm crashing, you all should, too, unless you have any other questions."

"I do." Sora frowned, thinking.

"Shoot."

"You said we couldn't get our fee back unless we won, or became a conductor, and we can win by forfeit. But what if I shared something that was taken?"

"Are you asking if you can share your magic with Vanitas? It's breaking the spirit of the fee, but not the letter of it. And the other angels do it all the time."

"So I could?"

"You can try, I won't stop you. Dunno if it'll work."

Sora held out his hand, his Keyblade snapping to it. "Vanitas, do you want a redo on this whole Master thing?"

"I… what. You're not even a Master yourself, right?"

"Riku, have I not successfully used the power of waking like a whole buncha times?"

Riku looked taken aback, before laughing. "Spirit of the thing, and not the letter, right? The next question you're going to ask is if that counts as passing your Mark of Mastery exam."

"Well, you're a Master yourself now, soooooo…"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You passed. Actually, that means something else." Riku summoned his own Keyblade, flipping it around in his hand so the hilt faced Tomo. "I can take an apprentice, myself. I never did like that weird eyeball sword. Tomo, upgrade?"

"You… sure about this?"

Riku shrugged. "Honestly? **No**. But if Sora got this far in life being that damn impulsive, maybe I should learn a thing or two, myself."

Sora grinned, holding his own key's hilt out to Vanitas.

"Screw Xehanort," Vanitas said, gripping the handle. "As long as I don't have to call you Master Sora."

"It sounds bad, anyway," Sora admitted.

Vanitas winced, then felt something unbelievably warm in his chest. He couldn't feel his magic return… Joshua still probably had that hostage. But he did feel something comforting and safe. Sora dismissed his Keyblade in the tight room, and Vanitas held out his hand, aiming where there was open space.

He gasped, ever so slightly.

It felt so light, and it was much smaller and more delicate than his old blade, the keychain the symbol of the Unversed. Spindles of black and grey intertwined, with a broken third of a heart in the hooked part of the key. Vanitas heard a Keyblade sheathe, and Riku, too, had dismissed his own, smiling at Vanitas's new weapon.

"Nice," he said simply, before nodding to Tomo.

Tomo inhaled worriedly, and reached out, at first grasping nothing. But Vanitas could see wisps of silver just out of his fingertips.

"Don't compare yourself to us," Vanitas said, hugging his new Keyblade close to his chest. It felt… gentle. Especially compared to his old knuckle-dragging Void Gear. "You've never used a Keyblade before. Just… sort of open yourself to it."

Tomo breathed out again. "There's no way I'm actually worthy of… one." It was on 'one', of course, where his own materialized. Tomo dropped it, like it was a hot potato.

It was all white, with tiny pits of stained glass embedded in it at random intervals. The teeth of the key were colored pencils, sharpened to differing lengths.

"You were thinking of Naminé, weren't you?" Riku asked, gently.

Tomo slowly picked up his new weapon, his keychain a tiny little sketchbook that actually opened, pages blank.

Gabriel smiled softly. "Okay, okay, I gotta sketch those for my Pixiv."

* * *

_**i will probably sketch out Tomo's (Sketchbook Memories) and Vanitas's (Found Memory) new keyblades. if someone who isn't blind wants to take a stab at it, i'd love to see your interpretation! and, as you might have guessed, vanitas's is ventus's lost memories keyblade counterpart.**_


	14. end of infinity

tw: gore

* * *

Sora woke up groggy, Flood having worked its way into the space between his wingblades, snuggled pressed to his back. The warmth was welcome on his aching muscles, despite being tinged with a bit of nervousness, a byproduct of being entangled with Vanitas's fears.

Sora blinked again. Vanitas's rabbit Unversed was staring him back, an inch from his face. If Sora recalled correctly… that rabbit was his sadness.

Two shapes, wrapped in thin summer comforters were sitting upright and leaning next to each other against the wall with the window. Sora could make out bulges in the back that were folded wings, but that didn't help; it described everyone crammed in the room, save Gabriel, who didn't have a sharp iron-wrought point at the joint of her feathery wings.

Sora saw Komaeda on their back, wings sprawled flat, in a tank top and sweatpants, comforter kicked clean off sometime in the night, and Riku curled up in a fetal position to her left, in his new pale blue tee. His infinity timer, unwrapped, glowed a hazy neon red in the darkness.

Sora opened his own hand to look at his. It still blinked double infinity, and burned a little when he pressed a nail on the lettering.

"Hey…" he heard quietly. "I just… thanks."

**Vanitas**? Thanking Tomo?

"Riku wanted to help, so…"

"So nothing.**You**didn't have to. You chose to," Vanitas snapped quietly. "Don't make me raise my voice. I haven't unleashed a rage based Unversed yet and I'm pretty sure we can't fit anyone else in here if we tried."

"Why…?" Tomo asked.

"Because I was ripped from someone else too." Vanitas said quietly. "And seeing you give up… "

"I'm just a burden," Tomo admitted with a quiet laugh.

"The fuck you on about?" Vanitas asked, voice raised a little. Riku groaned, blinking open an eye. "That's not even close to it, you… j-j-"

"Jackass. You can say it to my face, you know."

Vanitas sighed. "No. It's a bad habit, it's not meant to- Tomo, I'm not trying to insult you. I'm not the only one who's fucked up a bit in the head. You're just not getting the help you need… because… because you're **nice**. I don't do nice. I don't know **how**to do nice, other than some shitty old memories of when I was whole."

"At least your memories are really yours…" Tomo hissed.

"I am really going to kick myself for this…" Vanitas muttered, before grabbing Tomo on the shoulders. "Where is Riku. Right now."

Tomo stuttered. "A. A few feet away."

"So whose shoulders am I holding?"

Riku rubbed the crust out of his eyes and sat up. "Tomo. Do you remember what I said last night? Your issues aren't less important. But Vanitas needed our help first. I can't help everyone at the same time. And now… he's trying to help you."

Tomo stared at his twin, frowning in the darkness.

"If there's anyone who can emphasize with you, it's the guy who literally materializes his emotions," Riku said with a sweep of his hand.

"Flood, here," Vanitas demanded. The creature obeyed, and Vanitas scooped it up, locking his hands under its forearms, holding it up for Tomo.

"It's literally all I have, Tomo. **Empathy**."

"You don't let anyone but Sora touch it," Tomo said nervously.

"Because when Ventus was stuck in him, I was too, until Xehanort pulled me out of time and shoved me in a replica body. Same as you. I was infuriated, being trapped in Sora for a decade. Do you have any idea how big of an idiot he was as a kid? I saved him from drowning. **Thrice**."

"That was **you**?" Sora asked, rolling a shoulder. "The town thought mermaids did it."

"Oh look, the peanut gallery," Vanitas groaned. "Yes. **Me**. You passed out and I swam your tiny-ass body to shore before you regained conciseness and shoved me back into the recesses of your heart along with my blonde idiot half. You're a fucking islander and you couldn't even swim."

"I was **seven**!"

"You were an **idiot**! You still are!"

Riku doubled over, laughing hysterically. "You're like an old married couple."

"Yeah well I was literally ball-and-chained to him for years."

"Is… that why you trust me?" Sora piped in, scooting over.

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Basically." He lifted up Flood again for Tomo. "Look. Your old memories weren't yours. Or they were, in the same way that I have snippets of Ventus's memories. But the ones you make **now **are yours. So, make the most of it."

Tomo slowly reached out, and put his palm on Flood's forehead. Gently, he stroked the soft velveteen fur. Flood purred, and Vanitas simultaneously relaxed and tensed up under the indirect contact.

"Vanitas, can I hold it?"

Vanitas frowned, looking down at his Unversed. "I'll let it choose. And if it starts trying to wriggle free…"

"I'll let go."

Gently, Vanitas passed Flood to Tomo, who cradled it in his arms. Tomo held and pet the creature, but watched Vanitas's reaction instead of Flood's. At first, Vanitas looked a little pained, but bit his own lip and said nothing, flapping his wings a little in the same way a beached fish would flop around stressed.

"Are you sure, Vanitas?"

"If it's too much, I'll tell you or it'll squirm," he replied, through clenched teeth. "I can't scream at any stranger I accidentally brush against on the street."

"I… guess not," Tomo said, as Komaeda slowly groaned awake.

"Ugh, it's too hoooooot," they whined. "I hate Tokyo in August."

"How did you sleep through Tweedledee and Tweedledum here?" Riku asked, gesturing to Vanitas and Tomo.

"I live in a dorm room with five teenaged and twenty something guys, I can sleep through an earthquake at this point," Komaeda replied, looking bemused at Tomo handling Flood like it were a decorative egg.

With everyone now awake- Gabriel must have already gotten out of the room- Sora turned back to look around.

The rabbit was gone.

* * *

"Good, I was just coming to wake you," Joshua said, opening the door to Gabriel's room but seeing everyone awake. "A little bird told me Sora passed on some powers to a certain someone who had them taken."

Sora suddenly felt extremely guilty.

"Didn't know you could do that. Good job. Get dressed, all of you, regular clothes. Sora, I'll help so you don't accidentally phase off your wing brace when you put on a shirt."

Komaeda quietly excused themselves, as the other four groaned and stretched. Joshua danced around everyone, and found the neatly stacked pile of Sora's new clothing. Sora groggily pointed at the shirt he wanted, and Joshua held the wing brace in place as Sora pulled it overhead. The straps still clattered to the ground as he phased his wings for a moment to get the shirt on and in place.

"Well, I needed to see if it healed properly anyway," Joshua muttered.

Carefully, he touched Sora's back and checked. "I'm still keeping you grounded but Gabriel set it correctly. Fly only as a last resort."

Sora nodded, having bit his lip while Joshua had pressed on the formerly torn muscle. It wasn't screaming pain, but it was still extremely tender to the touch.

Emergencies only, Sora reminded himself, as Joshua rolled up the brace and left the room to let them change in peace.

* * *

"Seven in the morning?" Sora groaned. "If I knew we were up as early as we were I woulda gone back to bed."

"Stop whining," Gabriel chided, as she stood over a stovetop, directing breakfast.

And **directing **was a very good word for it. Various pans were telekinetically being flipped and seasoned, plates floating around her as she loaded each one with pancakes and eggs, flinging it to a table crammed with eight sets of silverware.

"You're not stepping out of here looking like **that **are you?" she added, as Riku ducked a carafe of coffee Uriel floated to the center of the table.

"I'm letting them choose," Joshua replied. Sora relaxed a little, thankful the annoyed side eye wasn't directed at **his **choice in clothing, a track jacket Neku had picked out for him in blue-purple and black, with basketball shorts.

"You're plenty old to be picking your own clothes," Vanitas said with a smirk. "Unless this is some kind of magic curse thing."

"She's not talking about what I'm wearing, or well she **is**, but… she's talking about my face. I can't just walk into Shinjuku like this. I guess you missed the first night here. We angels are only gendered for convenience. I don't have any attachment to what I look like save the fact that I've been using this face for about a decade."

"My last assignment was in Sweden, fifty years ago," Gabriel piped. "You think I looked like Futaba Sakura there? Or **here **for that matter? I was Sakura from Fire Emblem before I changed it up."

"Our cosplayer nerd here changes her appearance whenever there's a new game out she likes," Uriel explained, rolling her eyes. "You always pick the girls, though. **Always**."

"Well excuse me for liking being cute," Gabriel said, flipping three pancakes and tossing them on another plate.

"And yet you'll never wear a dress."

"Hate 'em."

"Or do your nails."

"Waste of time."

"Makeup?"

"Hard pass."

"Then why be a girl?"

"Because I wanna, that's why," Gabriel pouted. "Do I need a reason?"

"**Ladies**," Joshua said, annoyed. "We need to eat and go."

"Well **excuse**me for not being any good at time magic," Gabriel huffed. "Unless you wanna take over, these pancakes are only going to cook as fast as physics lets them."

"Josh will just burn them to spite us," Uriel commented. "Switch."

"I will not!" he huffed, as Uriel suddenly started to do things at an impossibly high speed, completely filling the table with fully cooked food in under a minute.

"Showoff," Gabriel muttered, as she plopped down on a cushion at the low table.

"If it's any consolation, your reality bending magic is unmatched," Uriel offered, as she slid in an open space between Vanitas and Komaeda.

"Yeah, yeah," Gabriel muttered, shoving a forkful of chocolate chip pancake in her mouth.

"You… want us to pick what you look like?" Tomo finally spoke up, asking incredulously as he reached for a pitcher of juice.

"I never really liked picking a new face. Someone's always done it for me, so at this point, I've given up trying. If I try to make one without a reference to look off of…"

"It looks bad," Uriel and Gabriel said in unison.

"Terrible," Gabriel added.

"Horrible," Uriel agreed.

"Gang up on me, why don't you?" Joshua snapped good-naturedly. "**Ugh**. The only thing worse than being egged like this is knowing that they're not exaggerating."

"It's like, when you try to make a new look for yourself, you go into a character editor, hit the random button, and just be that. **Yuck**," Gabriel added in mock disgust. "It never works."

"Then I dunno, make yourself look like Kairi or something," Vanitas goaded.

Sora turned crimson. "Please don't."

"No, see, now I wanna see this more," Gabriel laughed.

"I'm not going to be that big of a jerk, Gabe," Joshua commented, pouring himself a cup of black coffee.

"Then Naminé," Vanitas suggested. Riku and Tomo turned tomato colored.

"Aqua, then, while we're at it," Riku countered, glaring at Vanitas.

"See, that doesn't work. I have absolutely zero interest in her."

Joshua pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. "Just pick someone. I need to not look like me, or a celebrity. Someone who's not going to look odd walking around Tokyo. And yes, you'll need to hide your hair colors again today."

Sora groaned. "Can I have sunglasses instead of contacts at least? Those things itched."

"I'm sure I have a few pairs lying around," Uriel offered.

Komaeda flipped absently through their phone. "I just asked one of my roommates if you can borrow their face for the day. He said yeah." They faced their phone forward, and Joshua frowned in concentration.

"As good as any. Someone Coco doesn't know, wouldn't have any way of knowing, right?"

"He died seven months ago after he got shoved off a roof. His body was so messed up they didn't run it in the papers or news."

"Oh, this is Yasu, right? That was just before all hell broke loose. I should go and introduce myself. Tell him I said thanks, and I'll apologize in person later."

Joshua closed his eyes, and his features began to rearrange, his hair darkening, and a little stubble grew. He winced as he pulled his wings in, and in an explosive poof of feathers that disappeared after a moment of floating in the air, his wings re-materialized as the metal-looking kind Reapers had.

"Good enough?" Joshua asked. "I'm not going to mess with my voice unless I have to. I like it."

"Yeah, that's cause I picked it out for you," Uriel said, rolling her eyes. "Your old one sounded like one of those old men playing shogi over in Yoyogi."

"Well excuse me for liking strategy games," Joshua countered, running his fingers though his now-longer hair, before passing the phone back to Komaeda, who snorted behind a hand.

"Hearing your voice come from his mouth is really disorienting," they admitted.

"That's it? I just transformed in front of you and not a single bit of surprise?"

"I've turned into a vampire, a mermaid, and a lion," Sora said, shrugging. "I honestly didn't realize that was a big deal."

"Ouch," Gabriel said, downing a mug of eighty percent sweetened milk to twenty percent coffee. "Pwned."

"You literally re-set your jaw in front of me last night," Komaeda added. "And every time Neku slugs you."

"You're all bark and no bite," Vanitas added, more for his own reassurance than anything else, as Flood wormed its way up to try and steal a pancake. "Sit, Flood, and I'll cut it," he hissed, bopping it lightly on the head with the back of his hand.

Joshua sighed.

"Tough crowd."

* * *

"I'm bushed." Demyx practically rolled off the back of his chocobo, before hitching it to the feeding station to rest and recover. Goofy followed, dismounted, then offered a hand to Prompto, who'd swapped with Donald for the ride back.

"I got it," Prompto said, with a wave of his hand. "Go drag your friend out of the backseat. Gladio's probably too afraid to wake him up and end up with a sparkler in the face."

"Fair," Demyx said, stretching. He walked the fifty feet down the hill to the car park, and hefted the snoring mage up over a shoulder. It felt a little like when he delivered Vexen's replica for Ienzo, a unconscious mage who really just needed a god-damned hug.

"Tomorrow, you're telling us exactly what in the nine hells you did," Ignis hissed low as he locked the car. "I won't hand over the proof of bounty until you do."

Demyx groaned. "Really? You're filthy rich. And you're sitting here hoarding our one chance at cash over us. I get you don't fully trust us. But that's just low."

"Information then. I'll tell you about Shibuya."

Demyx frowned. "I hate you. I actually. Honestly. Hate. You. Have it your way."

"Sleep well, and don't let the demons bite."

"Here, that sounds more like a threat," Demyx muttered, joining Goofy to go crash at the hotel, dirty, sweaty, and exhausted.

* * *

"This is way too damn early," Neku whined, yawning. "You know what time I had to be up to be here on time?"

"Well, it's a Tuesday at 7:45 AM, so not only were you up, you were on an express train to Shibuya during rush hour. I don't envy you," Rhyme said, shuddering a little as she sipped her green tea frappe at the café.

Now that Sora knew what to look for, he spotted the seven pins on Rhyme's knit hat, none of them recognizable save the black and white pin all Players were given. She also had a faint glimmer around spots behind her back. Sora mentally traced the disturbance.

Rhyme had Reaper wings, but they were camouflaged somehow.

"We're still waitin' on Shiki, yo. And Josh."

"Just Shiki," Neku said, rolling his eyes to give Joshua serious side eye.

"Oh, come on, it's not **that **obvious," Joshua said.

Beat almost fell out of his chair. "Maybe for Neku, yo. I ain't as smart."

Flood chittered loudly and jumped up on Vanitas's head.

"Oh, come on, now even Van's Noise is makin' fun a'me."

Joshua paled. "You **see**it?"

"You don't?"

"Of course I do…" Joshua hissed.

"Our running theory is because it's something Vanitas could do while alive, now that he's visible, it is too," Riku offered sipping a coffee and scanning the sea of people outside the station for Shiki. "They were able to see my magic yesterday too, when I used a spell from home rather than a pin-based one."

Joshua downed his drink in a hard gulp. "I guess people here really **will**ignore anything."

"Just tell them it's an experimental robot companion if someone does ask?" Neku offered as Tomo waved Shiki over.

* * *

"I'm not sure which is worse," Isa grumbled, taming stock of the bright, thick blue fur covering his new body. "I'll take too many layers of clothes to none at all."

Naminé giggled, as she started to figure out how to use he new row of spindly insect legs to propel herself forward. "No thanks. That corset was a death trap."

Vexen just shuddered. "Naminé, that skittering on the pavement is making me very, very uncomfortable."

"You don't like bugs?" she asked, wiggling her new fingers, just two thick digits plus a thumb, in mottled gold.

"I do not," he admitted. "My only saving grace is that I am not one." Vexen was a rail thin, tall beast with six arms and short fur in gold and orange bands. Naminé was reminded vaguely of a creamsicle candy cane when she looked at him.

"I'm still trying to figure out how to sort this out, mentally," Vexen admitted. "I move one arm, and I end up moving two or five."

"Well, we're wasting time standing here. We need to get to the factory and meet up with Lea's group," Isa demanded.

"Easy for you, mister two-arms-two-legs."

"I have horns!" Isa offered.

"I have hooooorns!" Vexen mocked. "Horns are just fingernails that got lost on their way out of the body. You don't get to complain. If I had my Organization jacket in this form, I'd use one as a coat hook."

"Says the walking actual coat rack," Isa replied, grinning with far too many teeth.

* * *

"Plan of attack?" Shiki asked. "And sorry. They were doing track work so I ended up having to walk."

"You don't want to be on a train during rush hour anyway," Neku shuddered.

"Yeah, and we're not flying, we have four people weak on their wings and one of them already tore a muscle yesterday," Joshua added. "It's about an hour walk from here, so long as everyone's okay with that. I need to check something in Yoyogi anyway and we basically have to pass it."

"Can we stop in Asakusa before we head home?" Rhyme asked.

Vanitas noticed that she'd clasped her hands almost in a begging motion as she did. Reapers, and the Conductor, needed permission to leave their districts.

"Did you need something?" Joshua asked. "I can get it for you. It's the least I can do for dragging you all out."

"Time with my friends? All of them?" Rhyme asked.

"**Oh**, yeah. Of course," Joshua replied, nodding. "I'll make sure we have some time to do something else when we're done. You only have a few days left of break, don't you?"

Neku nodded. "What are you going to do once we're all back in school?"

"We're going to kick Coco out of Shinjuku before then."

"But… I have orientation on Friday. It's **Tuesday**."

"And?" Joshua replied. "We have a hostage crisis and four extremely powerful people already breaking UG rules by existing. Let's make use of what we have."

"We have like…" Shiki said, counting on her fingers, "sixty hours."

"And we'll have fifty-nine when we get to Shinjuku," Joshua said simply.

"Then let's use em, yo!" Beat roared, standing to his feet.

* * *

Demyx rose to his feet. It was past noon, by the small electric wall clock shoved in the corner of their bedroom. He went to turn on the tap, finding the handle loose. He'd complain later, but for now, he magicked himself some water to douse his face and at least make himself marginally presentable.

"Was going to tell you the sink is busted," Donald said. "Could I ask for some too? I'm out of mana and I can't absorb from the atmosphere. There's no ambient magic here."

"Huh? I've had no problem recharging?" Demyx asked with an uptick.

"No ambient light. There's plenty of darkness," Donald clarified, with a grumble.

"You could leech, if you needed," Demyx asked, holding out an arm. "I can barely keep it in here anyway. I hate venting it out."

"You sure?"

"You're doing me a favor."

"You just want to be lazy," Donald said with a huff, but he took the offered hand and drew.

"Ack, Donald! You just drained me dry!"

"You said you didn't have a problem recharging," Donald replied with a smirk.

"The hell are you, some sort of magic pit? Hang on, I'll pull in some more." Demyx took a sharp inhale, until the edges of his vision glowed with a purple haze. "Take what you need, just don't bleed me-" Demyx started, offering his hand out again. In moments, every store he'd just acquired vanished. "-dry. Seriously. How much mana do you hoard?"

"I cast from my stamina when I run out. A trick I learned watching some heartless around the castle when I was a kid. I never told the others, figured they wouldn't let me be a court mage if they found out. I think King Mickey knows, but he's never said anything."

Three more times, Demyx absorbed the ambient magic, and two more times, Donald took it from him in an instant.

"Had enough yet?" Demyx asked, rolling his eyes. "Cause now I'm starving."

"I'm not full, but it's enough," Donald replied, summoning a little fire to his hand. It was purple-black, instead of the usual reddish-gold.

"Just… I know I filtered it for you, but its still darkness based. Be careful with it."

Donald nodded, bouncing the tiny fireball off his knuckles, one of his gold bangles clanking with the movement. "I know what I'm doing, Demyx," he snipped, before softening a little. "Thank you for the concern, though. I look at you, and for a moment I see an older Sora."

"You got kids, too?"

"If Sora counts, yes. Unlike Goofy, I have a wife, but we can't have children. I have my nephews, but they travel with my uncle most of the time. Sora's the kid I never had. I'm a bit hard on him, but…"

"You worry. I get it. Back in the Org, it was something similar. Ienzo got turned when he was what… five? Six? Nobody really knows how old he is. Somewhere between fourteen and nineteen, and that's about all we've got. He was like a little brother to me, a bit, but he was basically Vexen's kid."

"We should probably get some food," Donald said, acknowledging Demyx in his own way. "I'm sure Goofy and Prince Noctis and his retinue are waiting."

* * *

"Not one person," Joshua muttered, as he watched people pass them by.

"One person what?" Tomo asked, confused.

"Nobody's looking at Vanitas."

Flood was nested up on Vanitas's head, his back legs on the teen's shoulders, chittering happily and enjoying the view of the city from his perch. "Good, because I don't feel completely self-conscious enough already." He turned the collar on his skull jacket up a notch, flexing the fingers on his right hand through his bandage, grateful they didn't try and shove him in a wig. Flood weighing him down was enough. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose and pulled the Unversed off his head. "Sora, you carry him. When I put him on the ground he just scrambles up me again."

Sora tried to pull Flood off, but he whined and dug his forelegs into Vanitas's ears.

"The hell? Stop it, Flood… oh shit. Sora, let go."

"The border between Harajuku and Shinjuku," Joshua said. This is the end of the Shibuya district. I have to bless you all or you can't leave."

"It's… like there's a red fog," Sora said, looking at the miasma towering all the way into the sky. He tapped the air, and his hand hit an invisible hexagonal barrier like the one he and Riku had erected for the game the day before.

"That's what the reapers all said yesterday when I came to hand out supplies," Neku said. "It just looks like another part of the city to me though."

"Same, yo. That fog's only in the UG."

"I don't think I can see a foot or two inside it," Riku said, concerned. "And this wasn't here on Sunday when Komaeda's brother found me."

"A foot?"

"Roughly a third of a meter," Joshua supplied, tapping the border wall gently before sticking his hand through it. "I can't even see my hand once it's through. Coco's been using this haze to periodically screw with everyone. Uriel's the only one immune, but she also can't touch Coco."

Joshua shoved his head inside. "It's going to take way too much effort to dispel just around me, and I don't have the power to lift it over the whole city. Maybe a few blocks, max." He pulled back. "I'd bet money that imp made some kind of deal with a devil, and she has to know we're here. She doesn't put this up indefinitely."

"D-d-demons are real?" Beat asked shocked.

"You're joking right?" Joshua deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Anyway, real **actual **demons are… socially speaking, a bit backwards, but they're not downright vile. Most of their aggression is of the self-preservation variety. We leave the Fair Folk alone, they do the same for us."

"Fairies are real?" Beat asked, even more exaggerated. Joshua just facepalmed. "Next you're going to tell me leprechauns exist," Beat added.

Joshua inhaled and raised a finger, before sighing and lowering it. "Another time," he muttered. "So, give us the short version, Neku, Beat. You two go in here the most."

"Coco doesn't issue missions. She just leaves the dead to figure out everything. She toys with people, and sics noise on them, and puts up the fog when she really likes screwing with everyone. And unless you're willing to be her personal servant, she's kicked the Reapers from their homes. Most are sleeping on the streets. There were rumors that she's planning to take away everyone's phones, but she hasn't done it yet. She'll randomly run the emergency alert system whenever she feels like it, so between the red haze making it impossible for the Reapers to see, the distrust, the random Noise attacks that go after players and reapers alike, and the regular blaring out of people's phones, there's no safe place or time for peaceful sleep."

Vanitas glowered behind his sunglasses. "That's literal, actual, torture. Does anyone know why she's even doing this?"

"That's the worst part of all of this," Komaeda said, running fingers along the barrier, crackling with energy. "She thinks it's **fun**."

* * *

"This is literal, actual torture." Demyx stared down Noctis and his retainers, opposite himself, Doanld and Goofy at one of the pub's long outdoor tables. They'd already started eating, and Demyx's food hadn't come from the kitchen yet.

"Quit being a baby," Donald chided.

"What he said," Prompto agreed, nicking a fry off Noctis's plate.

"You have food."

"You have a portable army," Ignis replied.

"So I wasn't just dreaming that," Prompto said, mouth full. "Glad that's sorted."

"How?" Ignis asked.

"I can call certain… monsters… for lack of a better term, to come help in battle. If I just call a few of them, I have complete control. An army like that, and I can sort of just direct them."

"You're inhuman," Gladio said, poking at his chili.

Demyx nodded and smiled softly. "Yeah. Haven't been human for a long, long time."

"I meant that more in the powers sense, not literally. But… you're really not?"

Demyx shrugged. "I'm basically one of the creatures I summoned, I just happen to have a brain."

"Most of the time," Donald muttered, loudly enough for the table to hear.

Prompto, very quietly, shrunk in his chair.

* * *

"Look, I know you four don't need it," Joshua said, addressing Neku, Shiki, Beat and Rhyme. "But I'm just going to cover our collective asses." Joshua licked the back of his palm and smeared his saliva on Shiki's forehead.

"Ew."

"You want every protection I can give, or not?"

"Still, **gross**."

"That is entirely fair."

Neku winced. "I already got immunity thanks to what happened last February."

"I'm not taking chances," Joshua chided, and smeared his forehead, too.

"If I get zits or a cold sore, I'm blaming you, yo," Beat whined, next in the line.

"You know cold sores are herpes, right?" Neku asked grinning.

"Ew, double ew," Beat complained as Joshua moved on to his sister, the real reason he'd blessed the other three.

"And with this, I grant you safe passage," he said, doing the same for her. "Until I relinquish it again or time should run its course."

When Joshua removed his hand to move on to Komaeda, Rhyme had a red timer etched on her forehead.

Six hours, and counting down.

* * *

"So, why is your home getting bombed?"

"It's a… very long story," Ignis said with a shrug as Demyx inhaled his macaroni and cheese. "The summary is a war, though it seems as much a front for our enemy to try out some new bioweapons."

"The demons?"

"And possibly also the smaller creatures we were ambushed by last night."

"Those are called Heartless," Demyx interjected. "They're born of darkness, though they can come out in the day, too."

"Is that what you are, Demyx?" Ignis asked, hands steepled on the table as he observed the three of them.

"…sorta," Demyx replied, before diving back into his brunch. "It's also a long story."

"When someone's heart is ripped outta 'em, the heart with no body becomes one kinda demon, and the body left behind becomes another," Goofy explained. "Demyx is the body half."

"So… you're a zombie?" Noctis asked.

"Good way of putting it, yeah," Demyx said. "Heart ripped out, but I get some powers from the bargain."

Prompto slunk further in his space on the bench.

"Prompto, are you ill?" Ignis asked, noticing his composure.

"I… I'll be fine," Prompto said, with a shaky smile. "Just… didn't get enough sleep last night, I think."

"Make sure you go back to the hotel and take a nap if you are unwell," Ignis chided. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we still need to bring Noctis to Altissia."

"This is the literal worst stag party in existance," Gladio said, snorting.

"Stag… party?" Goofy asked, before realizing. "Noctis, you're gettin' married? Awful young, don't'cha think? This ain't some political marriage of convenience is it?"

Noctis frowned a little. "It is, but at least I do like her," he admitted.

"My son's about your age, can't imagine him hitchin' that young. You just be careful, now, you hear? And treat your princess well."

"Are you giving me… advice on women?" Nocits asked, just short of laughing.

Demyx wanted to add that he should see what Goofy **really **looked like, but bit his tongue. One friend turning out to be a demon was one thing, finding out the other two were a sentient dog and duck was probably going to make Noctis's head spin clean off.

* * *

"Can we… see my brother?" Komaeda asked, holding one of Neku's elbows. Joshua was on the other side, holding the other for guidance, but they could barely see each other through the fog.

"Kinda figured you'd want to, though, given how the two of you are going to tear my arms off, you can't see very much, can you?"

"I can't even see Master Joshua."

"Ow. That bad?"

"That bad," Sora said, holding one side of Shiki while Vanitas had her other elbow. "But I can hear you just fine."

"Good, don't yell," Joshua insisted. "We don't need all of Shinjuku thinking we're crazy. Talk like normal."

"WHAT I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU," Vanitas shouted. Sora vaguely heard Joshua sigh.

Their living friends guided them down someplace, where Neku whistled a quick song.

"It's Neku Sakuraba, I've brought friends, onigiri, and water."

"Neku?" a woman's voice called out. "The fog's still here. None of us can see."

"Yeah, I know. I have Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme here, and some Reapers from Shibuya. I can see you all just fine. I'll come and tap you on the shoulder, okay?"

"Head's up, we're affected by it too," Komaeda said aloud. "I can't see more than an arms length away."

"Komaeda?" another voice asked.

"His twin," Komaeda explained. "Is he with you?"

"He's sleeping under the overpass," Shiki offered. "Okay, reapers, let go, and let us give out food and drinks and I'll bring him to you." Sora let go of Shiki, and shifted nervously on his feet, as he closed his eyes and just listened to his living friends work.

"Jack, I've got a konbu and a fried shrimp one for you, here. And a bottle of tea. There you go, you got it?"

"Yeah, thanks, Neku, you're an angel."

"No way, man. Give me like seven or eight decades first."

"Risa, two tuna mayo and a pumpkin milk," Shiki offered.

"Thank God."

Sora just listened quietly as food was distributed to seven grateful voices.

"We've got another bag here for the homeless people who are alive," Neku said. "I know they won't let us just give them stuff, so I'm leaving it with Nori."

"I'll make sure anyone who wants food can get it," a gruff, much older voice replied. "They know that we've suddenly got periods when we can't see, and we.. ahem… liberate things from the vending machines when we can for 'em, and get the cops to leave 'em alone."

"Do you guys need money?" Joshua asked.

"Who doesn't?"

"I have something from Master Joshua," Joshua said.

"Oh what, the angel running Shibuya? The heck he'd want with us?"

"Who do you think's been funding you guys?" Joshua asked the red haze. "Master Uriel and Master Joshua have. There's no way a bunch of high schoolers could afford to feed all the Reapers in Shinjuku."

"Tell that witch she can have her money, I just want Coco out," Risa's voice whined through the red fog.

"She's doing what she can, but her hands are tied and her wings are clipped," Joshua commented. "I've been trying to help too."

"You're Joshua aren't you?" the older voice stated. "Nobody around here talks like that."

"Might be," Joshua admitted.

"Buncha Reapers from outside gotta have their escort," Nori grumbled. "Just stop talking in third person and you're fine in my book. And I know it ain't Uriel's fault. But it does sting that she's not done shit."

"Eep!" Komaeda cried, far off, followed by a loud crack.

"You… ow, it's Neku, your twin's with me. That was my wrist you just snapped."

"Fuck!" Komaeda- Shinjuku's Komaeda- cried out. "Sorry Neku!"

"It's okay. Just get up and hold on to me. Josh, you wanna heal my arm?"

"If you come to me, I'm just as blind as the Reapers," Joshua grumbled.

"Ugh, hang on. Ko, you hit just as hard as your twin."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "With this fog…"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it," Neku said, navigating him back to his sibling. "This has to be torture."

"We have to move camp every night so Coco doesn't find us. Uriel obfuscates us as much as she can, but…"

"There's too many of you, and if you all stay together you're a target."

"Yeah."

"It's… frustrating," Joshua said quietly, as Neku grabbed Joshua's hands, placing them on his own, so Joshua could heal his fractured wrist.

"Why can't we just leave?" Risa whined.

Joshua sighed. "Because Uriel doesn't allow that alone. You need the Conductor to agree by weakening the border wall. I might be able to use my magic to force override it, but I'd be able to get three or four of you out a week, maximum. And there's over three hundred Reapers in the district."

"Of course," Nori groaned. "Your bureaucracy can't make it easy. Ever."

"How's your hand, Neku?" Joshua asked.

He was answered with a solid jab right on the nose.

"Ubh, an here I thowt I was off easy," Joshua whined, as he fixed his face. "You broke my nose."

"Past tense, Joshua- and thanks for the heal, can I have another?" Neku asked, putting his hand back in Joshua's as the Komaeda siblings wrapped each other in a hug, sobbing and shaking.

* * *

"We need to get as far away from Insomnia as we can, not just so Noctis can marry, but so he can be crowned king and return to legitimize his rule," Ignis explained, paying the check and handing over a wad of bills. "Your Gil, reward for the hunt. We'll sell off the rest of the viscera, as agreed last night."

"Thanks," Demyx said, taking the cash. "Wait, this is way more than what we were supposed to get."

"You need it more than us," Noctis said with a shrug. "We all agreed."

"Is there a catch?"

"No catch, but-" Gladio started, when three pieces of music played simultaneously.

Demyx, Donald, and Goofy all reached for their phones.

"K-kairi?!"

* * *

"Obfuscate!" Neku yelled, before a sinister howling laugh echoed through the fog.

"Hmmmmm?" the voice asked. "Trying to hide from lil' me? Why would you do that?"

The fog disappeared, as a small girl, no older than ten or twelve in appearance flapped down, dragging a white body bag wrapped up in chains. She was wearing a bright teal dress, striped socks, hot pink sneakers, and a short hot pink jacket with ears on the hood that reminded Sora vaguely of Kairi's.

The similarity between her and his friend stopped there, though. She landed, and dropped the bag with a think, dragging the bag with her.

It was wriggling.

"Hiiiiiii losers! Whatcha doing in my city?"

Joshua coughed, and spoke with a voice that sounded nothing like his own. "Master Joshua sent us here. He wanted to bargain for Riku to be transferred under him completely."

She looked between their foreheads. "Wow. And sending seven of you. That's bold."

"Seven?" Neku asked, counting heads, the eight Shinjuku reapers, Komaeda's brother included, either completely visible or long gone from the dirty underpass they were standing in. "But there's only six… reap… ers…" he said, slowly coming to a realization, closing his mouth quietly.

He sighed. "And I'm here as someone completely neutral."

"Neutral my big 'ol butt," Coco whined. "You haaaate me. I know you do." She disappeared from view and re-emerged an inch from Neku's face. "I can read your miiiind."

"Hands off."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of hurting you, Neku. It's a waste of my energy since you've won that stupid baby game in Shibuya so many times. But you've brought friends I can hurt. Of course… you've made them twins."

She singsonged. "Which… one… is… mi~ineeeeee…" as she walked between them. "Not you, with the Noise on your shoulder, and you…" she said, pointing a finger between Sora's eyes, "too happy. I like my teenage hotties with a side order of emo."

She rattled the chain in her hand. "Makes a better battery."

"Who's in there?" Beat demanded.

"Nobody you care about, that's for sure. Picked up an otherworldly stray. He sucks up magic like you wouldn't believe, so I have a nice portable energy source."

Flood growled low at her.

"Tamed Noise? Ew, who is even that base?" She flicked an arrow of purple black energy from a single finger, shooting Flood right between the eyes. It disintegrated immediately, and Vanitas doubled over a little.

"Vanitas!" Sora yelled.

"It… just returned to me, I'm fine…" Vanitas replied in their own language from home.

Coco scowled, an odd sight on such a young girl's face. "No talking out of turn. Especially in some weird space language."

She kicked the bag in disgust, and the occupant coughed hoarsely.

"Thiiiiiink I broke another rib. Ah well, I'll just fix it and wait for something else to fall apart. Like this," she said, reaching for one of Joshua's wings. She hissed, as her palm burned under the touch.

"Fucking… loser… angel."

"I did tell you he gave us his blessing."

"Yeah well, his blessing'll only do so much to people he actually owns," Coco said, frowning. "It's not the chick," she added, glaring at Rhyme, "so it must be…"

Coco reached for Riku, right at the lacy part of his wing, and tyrned and twisted it, shredding it into bits between her fingers. Black ichor oozed from the wounds, and Riku screamed, doubling over in pain while Coco planted a sneaker on his back, sending him into the foul smelling puddles in the underpass.

She grinned, and opened her free palm, calling the ichor- Riku's reaper-wing blood- to her. It began to coalesce into a spear, which she raised giddily over Riku before anyone had a chance to react.

Time seemed to slow… and then rewind. And then stutter forwards again.

Riku screamed on repeat as his wing shred apart and reformed in a stuttering loop.

Coco dropped the ichor spear.

"What the.." she pouted. "Ugh. You're no fun anymore."

She rolled the chain up around her arm and flew off, leaving Riku to spasm wildly.

"Riku?" Neku asked, worried, unable to see the damage.

"She… ripped one of his wings to shreds," Sora whispered, kneeling, in horror as time cycled backwards and forwards in a loop of agony.

"I- I- I-'m okay…" Riku stuttered out, glitching.

"You're screaming," Sora said, watching as Riku stuttered upright.

"It- echo. I'm.. already… myself. Healed."

His words chipped in and out, out of order.

"Me. Let —- check something."

Riku stuttered back to a frozen face of him screaming, his wing shredded and Coco's ichor spear floating on nothing before snapping to Riku holding out his hand, palm out, showing his timer.

"Fee. Your fee. Xord. Time. He controls time."

"That's why we're outside the game," Sora whispered out. "That wild card is-"

Riku glitched backwards in time to replay his wing shredded, but this time, with his bandage off his hand.

The timer was -99:99:99

He stuttered again, earlier, his wing whole.

-99:98:16

He snapped back to a shredded wing, but no face of agony, glitching as he stepped.

"Time loop. —- have activated —-"

Vanitas gulped. "Komaeda, I know you wanted more time with your brother but we need to flee while that hell-girl lets us."

Komaeda nodded, and shapes shimmered into view. The eight Reapers materialized, in ratty, dirty clothes and with tired, bloodshot eyes. One had a splint on her wing and another was missing an arm entirely.

Joshua held out a thick envelope.

"While you can, get some food. I'm going to look into getting hotel rooms. It can't be that hard to house three hundred people, can it?"

"You'd do that?" the gruff old man asked. Nori. One of his eyes was pussed over and leaking the graffiti-like marks of Noise. He snatched the money from Joshua and shoved it in a pocket.

"If I knew it was this bad, I would have done it sooner."

"Coco will just retaliate harder," another voice said.

"I'm going to kill her myself," Joshua said sternly. "Just stay out of her way until then."

The eight nodded wearily.

"Let's go," Joshua demanded. "Before Coco gets an idea for a batter game."

"E-e-Yes," Riku stuttered, snapping between positions. Sora watched his hand to try and puzzle out how time affected him.

The lower the negative number, the further back it was pulling from, it seemed.

"You sure you're okay?" Tomo asked him.

"Okay. Not okay. But —- pain. Not in."

"Come on Yoda, lets get you home and I'll back out what's going on."

* * *

"Attacking Coco head on is suicide," Vanitas said, his shadow bubbling underneath him. Flood's head popped out, chirping happily, and jumped on the table.

They'd all crammed back in Joshua's apartment, poking at drinks and snacks and city maps. Riku continued to glitch at unpredictable intervals, and even outright disappeared for a few seconds at a time.

"End up. Shinjuku," he supplied, after his most recent episode.

If anyone tried to touch him, they'd just warp around him. He couldn't take things from others, but if they were set on an inanimate object, like the table, he could interact with them.

His cup of juice regularly glitched it's contents, full one moment, empty the next, then back to partially full of juice again.

No one had poured him anything.

"This is probably Luxord's power kicking in," Tomo suggested. "I only know of him from what the other Organization members mentioned. He was an incredibly powerful time mage, yet barely used his magic in any significant way."

Joshua held out his fingertips, and the card materialized just above his hand. "I can't return the fee, even if I want to. But… maybe being near the source might help."

Joshua laid the card on the table, and Riku reached for it.

He screamed bloody murder and flopped back, glitching wildly on the floor.

"Bad idea! Bad…" Joshua cried, freaking out.

And then Riku stilled, his wings whole again. He panted, and slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

The card vanished off the table.

"I'm going to say a full sentence in chronological order," Riku said slowly. "Can someone else talk?"

"Riku, how are you?"

"Not hearing everything all jumbled out of order, for starters."

"You're sounding normal again," Tomo said slowly. "I'm going to try touching you."

Tomo reached out and put a hand on Riku's shoulder.

Riku exhaled a sigh of relief.

"It worked," Neku said, surprised. "It actually worked."

Riku opened his palm.

-99:98:16

-99:98:15

-99:98:14

"It's.. not infinity any more," Riku said, showing his hand. "It's like a Player timer, but in reverse."

"What happens when it ticks up to zero?" Vanitas asked. "We were told when our timers went down to zero we'd be Erased."

"It wouldn't surprise me if the same rules applied," Riku said, quietly. "Neku and his friends might have a soft timer of two days to help… but I've got a hard timer of four to live. I think I would have been Erased back in Shinjuku if Luxord's spell on us didn't kick in."

The table went silent.

"You need to beat Coco's game," Rhyme said quietly. "Screw the rules, Coco's not playing by them anyway. Im giving you every power I have."

"You're the seventh Reaper?" Neku asked her, eyebrow raised.

She shook her head no. "I'm the **Conductor**. And in my city, everyone gets a second-"

Music began to blare.

Sora and Riku looked at each other, confused, before pulling their phones from their pockets.

"…**Kairi**?"

* * *

PART ONE: DOWN FROM INFINITY.  
-END-

whelp, section one is over, and the gloves come off.

thanks for sticking with me, as we dive deeper into heartless, demons, more demons, and lots of magic

and coco. bleeping coco.


	15. interdimensional roaming charges apply

apologies that 95% of this chapter is a recap of part 1, but... it needed to be done to move the story forward.

-part 2: may the stars align-

* * *

Chapter Text

"Hello?"

"Kairi?"

A chorus of confused voices rang out in bouncing echoes. Sora and Riku stared down at their phones, bewildered.

It didn't even dawn on them to try calling their friends.

Joshua took Sora's phone. "Quiet," he demanded. "Or I'll cast Silence on the lot of you. My name is Joshua and Sora and Riku are safe with me… of a sort. Sora, Riku?"

"Hi…" Sora said sheepishly.

"Hello Kairi," Riku grimaced. Joshua's demands sounded almost like a hostage situation.

"Step one," Joshua said, placing Sora's phone down on the middle of the table. "I'm hearing too much echo. Are some people together, and have all picked up?"

Nobody replied. "Say yes or no. I want to make sure this isn't dropped."

"I was worried you might make good on your threat," a young man's voice sounded.

"Lea!" Sora cried out.

"Oh, good, it's not just someone mimicking Sora's voice," Lea said dryly.

"Sora and Riku are my guests, not captives," Joshua sighed out. "I just figured without any order nobody would hear anyone."

"Joshua's been nothing but helpful," Sora chimed in.

"Sora may be the optimist, but he's not lying," Vanitas offered.

"**Vanitas**?!" Terra said, enraged. "Is that Vanitas because I'm going to-"

"What did I say about talking out of turn?" Joshua said, sighing. "If you're in a place with anyone else listening, use just one phone please. And can people introduce themselves? Kairi, you're the one that called us. You start."

"Um. Hello, Joshua. I'm Kairi. I'm one of Sora's and Riku's friends. We're in a place called Gravity Falls. I'm here with Lea and Mickey."

"Hello," the men chorused, before a click was heard. "We put our phones on speaker. Mickey ended the call on his line," Lea added.

"I'll go in their room, Lea, turn off your phone when I do. I made the call. If I end it I might cut the line for everybody," Kairi said, footsteps resounding in the background. "Is Aqua's group on?"

"We're here," Terra huffed. "I'm Terra, and Aqua and Ven are with me. Phones off?"

The line clicked twice. "Okay. We're all sharing one phone now. Less echo?"

"It sounds like you're in a cave," Joshua said.

"We are, we're in… where are we exactly?"

"Haven City, miles below the surface. It's underneath Dublin, Ireland," a young voice said. "I'm Artemis. Your friend with the blue hair cast something on me so I could understand you. My Japanese is a fair bit rusty."

"Oh good," Joshua said. "Next?"

The line was silent a moment, before the next group spoke. "This is Ienzo. I am here with Roxas and Xion in Los Angeles."

"You're the closest one to us," Joshua commented. "I can wire you money for a flight."

"Sora already told us we're on the wrong world?" Xion asked, confused. "He said that living dolls don't exist where he is."

"Living… dolls?" Tomo asked. "Like Replicas?"

"No, like… living plush toys, this is Roxas, by the way. I ended up being one when I arrived."

"Right. It's weird to think you sound like me."

"Ven, don't talk out of turn," Aqua sighed out. "Anyway. That's Kairi's group, my group, and Ienzo's group."

"This is Demyx, I'm here with Donald and Goofy in… what city is this?"

"Lestallum," Goofy piped in.

"Wait, Demyx is looking for Sora? The fuck?" Vanitas asked, shocked.

"If that really is Vanitas, I suggest you can it before I do it for you," Terra said, sharply.

Vanitas's Flood chittered, and he froze in shock.

"Terra doesn't know, Vanitas," Sora said softly. "And he's not here. He's just a voice. On the phone."

"Vanitas, if you want…" Neku offered, pulling his headphones off his neck. "They're noise cancelling."

"Wait… what is going on over there?" Terra demanded.

Riku sighed out as Sora picked up Flood and began to cuddle it, offering it a pin. Joshua ducked off for a moment while Riku took the metaphorical floor.

"Everyone, this is a Riku. I want you all to shut up until I'm done. Clear? Good. Sora, Vanitas- yes, Vanitas, he's with us and you're going to deal with that- and my replica all died. We are in purgatory. When you die in the world we're in, you are given the option to play for your life back in a game. What kind of game it is depends on where in the city you die. Different cities have different rules. Are we clear so far?"

Riku heard general murmurs as Joshua returned with a whole box of starter pins, offering one out to Flood. Flood hissed at him, but Sora gently nudged it into Joshua's hand until it took the offered snack.

Vanitas gulped and took deep breaths.

"In order to play this game, you have to give up something important to you. You don't get to choose, and the people running it, nice as they are, can't actually give it back until you win. Sora gave up something Luxord gave him, which seems to be some **extremely **powerful time magic. I'll get back to it later. Vanitas gave up both his Keyblade and regular magic. He still makes Unversed. Tomo's entry fee was… my life. That's why I'm here too. All of us are actually being protected by Luxord's magic, so we're not actually required to play the game. We're dead, but we kind of exist in limbo. Any questions so far?"

"Yeah, where's Isa's group?" Lea asked.

"Isa? He's looking too?" Sora asked. Joshua bopped him lightly on the head for interrupting. Flood chittered, nearly a laugh.

"What is that noise?" Aqua asked sternly.

"Unversed," Riku answered sharply. "You startled Vanitas. It's fine," he answered dryly. "Joshua and Sora are giving him tummy rubs and a snack."

"…Vanitas or the Unversed?" Aqua deadpanned.

"Ahem," Riku said, cutting out the chatter. "So that's the short of it. Joshua's taking care of us, but thanks to the nature of being… er… dead… we can't leave. Well, everyone else can. I'm stuck. I actually landed in a different city, so I'm not bound by the same rules. I'm under Joshua's protection, but… long story short I have just under a hundred hours left. The ruler of the city I landed in ripped me to shreds, but Luxord's magic saved me. And now I have a timer ticking from negative ninety-nine hours. And ninety nine minutes, so more like a hundred and change."

Silence. "What happens when the timer hits zero, Riku?" Mickey asked.

"I think I die for good."

"Y'know, we could just ask him," Demyx piped.

"Ask who? **Luxord**?"

"Naminé and Vexen found his somebody before we went searching for you two. He's got no power so he's back on Radiant Garden with Ansem," Demyx clarified. "The problem is we can't get signal to our home worlds from where we are. None of us are even sure we're in the right place."

"But you all have signal here."

"Yeah. Except Isa's group. We don't know what's happened to them. All we know is that it's not that they're not answering messages, it's that they won't even go through. Same happened when I tried messaging you from Monstropolis. It only works on certain worlds," Kairi explained.

"You guys know there's a stupid easy way to tell if any of us are on the right world, right?" Lea asked. "What time is it?"

"It's like…" Riku started.

"Not **like**. Exact time," Lea said simply. "It's 10:59 PM Monday the 23rdof August here."

"What's an August?" a teenage voice piped.

"That was Prompto," Demyx offered, "and I'm pretty sure that answers our question. If this world doesn't have an August I don't think it's the right place."

"It's June here," Xion answered. "But we already know we're on the wrong world. We've just found Heartless here."

"It's August 24th, Joshua said. "Three in the afternoon, on the nose."

"August 24th, seven in the morning," Terra said, quietly. "This was a waste. None of us are even in the right place."

"Hang on," Artemis said, slowly. "Your friends are in Tokyo. We're under Ireland."

"What does that matter?" Terra asked, confused.

"Do you… do you not understand time zones?"

"What's a time zone?" Kairi asked.

"This world is so large, different parts of it are on a different time. Think how it's a different time on different worlds back home," Mickey said.

"You said Gravity Falls, earlier. You know where that is, exactly?" Artemis asked.

"America?" Kairi questioned.

"That's… unfortunately an extremely large place."

"Holly Short here. You wouldn't happen to be talking about Gravity Falls, Oregon, would you? There was a massive magical spike there earlier. About three hours ago."

"Three hours? If we are on the same world that would have been around… eight PM," Lea said. "I… hexed a house? The people here are worried about a demon attack."

"Well, excuse you," Holly huffed. "Demons won't hurt a fly. Well, maybe a fly, but not some mud-people. I ran the report details. There was a report of a red-headed man casting some very powerful hex over an old mansion. That wouldn't be you, would it?"

"No way," Lea replied. "We're on the same world?"

"We can strongly run under that assumption," Artemis said. "Now that begs the question, are we all on the same world as your dead friends? I think I have a quick means of figuring out that part."

"Oh?" Joshua asked, interest piqued. "You can't teleport, can you?"

"No, but I caaaaan…" Artemis said, glee practically dripping from his voice, "crash the Nikkei."

"You what, yo?" Beat asked, shocked.

"What? What did he do?" Sora asked, Flood having calmed down and was pulling at the string hanging from Sora's hood.

"Crashed the stock market," Neku said, holding up his phone. "Just… the whole thing."

Everyone in Joshua's apartment just stared at Neku's phone.

"Um… excuse me. Artemis, was it?" Vaintas asked.

"Yes?"

"What the **fuck**?"

* * *

After the panic died down, and Artemis un-fucked the stock market, the groups began to think.

"It's going to take me a few hours to sit down with maps and photos to open a portal across the planet," Lea said. "Even if I start now, I don't think it'll be done until tomorrow night our time. I don't want to phase halfway through a brick wall, or worse, through a person. If you can take some photographs of somewhere safe we can go, and give me coordinates, that'll help a ton."

"We can do that," Joshua said. "Fairies, what about you?"

"We can take a shuttle and meet you," Holly said. "Emphasis on **can **and not **may**."

"You're civilian?" Joshua asked. "If you get me a LEP operative I'm willing to make a trade."

"…you know an awful lot about us, Joshua."

"I'm an angel," he said flatly.

"You don't sound like one, you sound like an assho-" Terra started, under his breath.

"Name your terms, fiend," Holly said, sharply.

"Well, I want an army," Joshua said.

"That's what you angels always want, when you end up coming to us. Cannon fodder, I've heard the legends," Holly said sharply. "No deal, we aren't getting in the middle of another one of your holy wars."

"Ma'am," Riku said, gulping, "this isn't a war. It's a hostage crisis. The… woman who ripped me to shreds is holding several hundred souls hostage plus outright destroying anyone who dies in her district. We don't want a war. We just want to end her nightmare. It's the only way I can come back to life, too."

"If not an army, I just want as many of their friends here as possible," Joshua said. "And I'm willing to pay for the privilege."

Holly almost growled. "I'll move this up to my superior immediately. Don't expect miracles."

"I'm not expecting any. I'm offering them," Joshua said, candidly. "So that's two groups sorted. "Demyx, was it?"

"This place has a Heartless problem. A big one. I want to help you guys but you all have it sorted. They need us here, too."

"Excuse me for not asking my opinion, I'm going back to save Sora," Donald said, angrily. "Kairi, you're more likely to get to him. I'm coming through."

"I'm sorry, Demyx, but Donald is right. We can come back and help, but Riku has a time limit, a'hyuck," Goofy added.

"Wait. Don't come through Monstropolis," Lea cried.

"Why not? If we go through Destiny Islands to where Aqua is, we'll be stuck there if someone can't grant us passage," Demyx said, dryly. "I'd have to start from square one linking a corridor to Shibuya since I've never been there before."

"If Haven wont help, I will," Artemis said, sharply. "I have a jet. We could be in Japan in about fourteen hours."

"Artemis, they're angels, do you have any idea-" Holly started.

"And what of demons then?" Artemis shot back. "I could use an angel's favor, I think, so if you want to sit on your heels I'll gladly make the deal. Secure some surface visas. That's all."

"Artemis-I- what am I ever going to do with you?! **Fine**. I'll get surface visas. How many of you are coming this way? Two sets of three?"

"First, why not go through Monstropolis to you, Lea?" Xion asked.

"**Time**," Lea said. "The way it flows through between Monstropolis and the portal here. We left it for only a few hours, and it was two weeks later. Even if you left right now, who knows when you'd arrive here? Actually… the same could be said for the Destiny Islands entry as well."

"No, actually," Terra said. "I left and re-entered. Time on Destiny Islands moves faster relative to here. We were gone a half hour, but only twenty-five minutes passed when we got back."

"We're coming, Terra," Ienzo said. "I'm not sure how much help I can be but-"

"Your quick thinking saved a lot of people, Ienzo," Roxas piped in. "I'm sure you'll have a plan."

Demyx inhaled. "Then I guess we are too. But we **will **be back once we're done."

"I can agree to that," Donald said. "We should probably go."

"I'll call Ansem on the way, okay? Once we're with Aqua's group I'll let you know what he gave Sora," Demyx said.

"I'll do the same," Ienzo said. "We're probably going to beat you to seeing him, so long as the book we passed through is still on his conference table."

"…right," Demyx said. "Don't worry, pack of deadbeats. We're coming."

"One more thing," Holly said sharply. "We can't wait forever. As soon as I have visas, we're leaving. If you're not here in twelve hours, we're probably gone."

"Ugh, and we have to deal with the differences in time moving around," Demyx whined. "We're going. Now."

Demyx hung up, and Ienzo's phone clicked soon after.

"Anything else?" Joshua asked.

"We'll pass info by text," Kairi said. "Keep your phones charged."

"Lea, your name is Lea, right?" Holly asked.

"Yeah?"

"When you said you were protecting a house from demons do you mean demons as in lizard looking creatures or something… else?"

"Ford didn't describe it as lizardlike… right?" Lea asked.

"One eyed, gold, possesses people," Mickey explained.

"D'arvit," Holly said, under her breath. "So, not demons. Or, not- English is a horrible language. Be careful and get out of there as fast as you can. I apologize for what I said earlier. You absolutely should be putting up any barrier you can."

"What? Why?" Kairi asked.

"There's demons… and then there's demons. One word in English, two in ours. The former is just another affect of the Fair Folk."

"And the latter, ma'am?"

"Elder god. Hellspawn. Demon with a capital D."

"The kind of demons even we fear," Joshua said, quietly.

"I'll… work as fast as I can," Lea said, throat dry.

"You're gettin' sleep, first. At least a little," Mickey demanded. "The only thing worse than workin' too slow is workin' so fast you make mistakes."

"Y-yeah…" Lea said.

"Do you want me to cast Sleep on you?" Kairi asked.

"I don't think I'm going to get any rest with that on my shoulders otherwise," Lea admitted. "Just let me-"

"**Sleep**," Mickey demanded, followed by the sound of a thud. "I'll wake 'm in six hours."

"Call's done?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah," Riku said. "We'll text you any other details we can about this place.

"I'm a little worried about the Heartless here," Ven piped, as Kairi's phone clicked. "We saw this giant Demon Tower that was glitching out. It was part here, in this world, and part back on Destiny Islands. That's why Terra knows the time difference here."

"Glitching?" Riku asked, interested. "Glitching **how**?"

"Like, it was here, but wasn't. Spells Aqua did on that side affected it here. It was like… space and time didn't affect it."

Riku looked down at his hand. "I hope Demyx can find out what Luxord's card thing actually is. Maybe it's affecting more than just us. When I was… when I was ripped apart, that happened to me. I was here, and wasn't, and things happened all out of order until I touched the card and stabilized. Joshua, do you still have it?"

Joshua extended his fingertips, and it reappeared. "Still here. You know you get this back if Sora wins the Game."

"I can do that right now," Rhyme popped in.

"Not until we know what that means for Riku," Joshua said, sternly. "If that timer is ticking towards life, or something else, it's not worth the chance. It might also just kill him the moment Sora is revived."

The table shuddered. "Yeah, point," Rhyme said sadly, tracing the condensation from her drink.

"It's odd. I assumed it had about one to three more charges when I offered it to Vanitas and Tomo."

"Tomo?" Terra asked.

"My replica. He needed a name of his own." Riku squeezed Tomo's shoulder gently.

"Um, hello," Tomo said shyly.

"Oh great, more **duplicates**," Terra groaned. "I had a hard enough time when Ven and Roxas switched places last week."

Ven could be heard snorting in the background.

"What were you all doing while I was hunting down Kairi's soul?!" Sora asked.

"Trying to stay sane, rebuild," Aqua said quietly. "There was a lot of damage. Anyway. We should probably go, too. Until everyone else arrives and we can go to the surface, we'll look into the glitching here. Stay safe… and… Vanitas?"

"I don't really want to talk to you," he snapped.

"The feeling is mutual," Aqua said sternly. "And I'll say this- Sora would trust a Heartless."

"Excuse me, I was one once," Sora huffed.

"I- okay, you know what? Ven, while we're on this world I am going to pick up those games for you, look, anyway. Sora is too trusting for his own good, but if both he and Riku are watching over you… well. Terra's getting a second chance. It's only fair for me to offer it to you too. But a second chance is all you're getting. You hear me? I'm offering you a clean slate."

Vanitas frowned. "I don't have anything to say to you."

"No 'go to hell'?"

"Xehanort's there," Ventus gruffed. "You're not **that **bad. Go to purgatory, maybe, but then you'd be stuck with us."

"Maybe I'd like that. Seems like you've made some friends there." Aqua sounded actually genuine, as she clicked the call to close.

Vanitas suddenly found himself shaking, before hearing a soft sob, one that wasn't coming from him.

Riku pressed his own end call button, and began to cry.

* * *

"You were very brave," Joshua said quietly, as he pulled Riku into a hug, nestling him with his wings. "You held in your worry for the whole time, to get people to act. But that's done, okay? You can't be strong all the time. Lord knows I'm not."

Riku just looked down at his hand, watching the timer tick.

"Riku?" Joshua said quietly. "Do you want me to bandage that?"

"N… no."

"Do you want us to stay?" Neku asked.

"You have people to feed in Shinjuku," Riku said softly.

Neku shook his head no. "Joshua gave their leader enough money to get food for everyone. Me going back there is just going to piss Coco off more, and she can't take it out on me, so she'll just hurt a Reaper. I'm not setting foot in Shinjuku until we're ready to actually fight her."

"Why don't we go to the arcade?" Shiki asked. "It's summer, we're a bunch of loitering teens."

Riku gave a small laugh at that, and Joshua helped him sit more upright. Sora reached out and clasped his hands around Riku's.

"When was the last time we did something stupid?" Sora asked him.

Riku wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt. "I... don't know."

"What's an arcade?" Vanitas asked, to the table staring at him.

"What's an… how sheltered were you, yo?"

"Not the word I'd use," Vanitas grumbled.

"Shiki is right, you know, you can't solve this on a clouded mind," Joshua said, arms crossed. "I want to go over everything we know with Gabriel and Uriel when they're done this evening anyway."

Riku shook his head. "Let me wash up. Then yeah, let's go."

* * *

"It was here yesterday!" Demyx cried, staring at the wall.

"What was?" Noctis asked, jogging to follow the rest of the group to the wall on the side of one of the side road cafes.

"The portal between worlds," Donald said, staring at the blank wall before them. "It's… gone."

* * *

anyone who thinks i'm just letting people off easy doesn't know me.

also goddamnit, all four (and a half?) of our dead bois need hugs. i don't know why i make them suffer.

also also, been replaying TWEWY recently. i made a very minor error, i forgot what street neku was shot on. it's on udagawa, not cat street. not any difference plot wise- joshua did shoot him so that he could bring him into the reapers game- but it bugs me when i'm not 100% consistent.


	16. stasis before the storm

tw- panic attacks

note- i had panic attacks very frequently as a teenager. i can't speak to how others had theirs, but i turned into a deer-in-headlights. as its my only frame of reference, vanitas has them too.

* * *

Terra exhaled, and sat down on the cave floor. "After all that… Vanitas… freaking… survived."

"You did too," Aqua said curling up.

"Sounds like you and he had a row," Artemis said, squatting next to them on the stone walkway. Holly had left to go deal with paperwork, and Foaly had gone to grumble about supplies, which left Artemis in charge of keeping an eye on their otherworldly visitors.

"Understatement of the century," Aqua said, looking up at him. "Vanitas almost killed us all."

"Yet it seems the dead friends you're going to save are protecting him?" Artemis clasped his hands. He was attempting to be compassionate, for certain, but he was also trying to gather his own greatest weapon; information. Especially when the prospect of dealing with what seemed to be a desperate angel was concerned. His days of thievery may have ended, but this Joshua was offering an exchange; why shouldn't Artemis get his due?

"I don't understand why, if I'll be honest," Aqua said, calling forth and dismissing some kind of magical weapon to her fingers absentmindedly, looking at it fondly.

Aqua had missed Rainfell so much.

"I was multitasking and reading the wiki about Kingdom Hearts during that conversation," Artemis admitted. When the three faux fairies looked at him confused, he elaborated. "An online encyclopedia covering your games. I don't know if the games are entirely accurate to your lives, but… it seems as though both you, Terra, and this Vanitas person were the product of a man named Xehanort. I will admit, I myself once did terrible things. And unlike you, Terra, it was not because I was manipulated, coerced, or mesmerized. I was, frankly, just an awful child."

"You're still a kid," Vanitas pointed out. "Probably younger than me."

"Yes, but I have had some opportunity to mature. What I am attempting to explain is that if the fairies, who, mind you, I had kidnapped one of their own and demanded ransom, if the fairies eventually forgave my actions, maybe it is worth giving Vanitas more than just a begrudging second chance. Especially if he has been vetted not only by Sora, but by what sounded like a small group of the dead and angels. It sounds to me like you're clinging to hate him not for him, but for the true person you despised."

"Xehanort," Terra spat. "Who isn't with them."

Aqua nodded quietly. "I'll.. try to be less abrasive to him. Unless he actually deserves it."

"Now… if you could. I'd like to know a bit more about this glitching that's occurring…"

* * *

Demyx pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course. Of **course**," he muttered. "Things that are just my luck."

Goofy frowned, knocking in spots on the wall. "Are we stuck here?"

Demyx closed his eyes and pressed his temples.

"No, but you're not going to like how we get out."

"We're not… following a tunnel created by the Heartless, are we?"

Demyx laughed hollow. "Sounds like you've done it before. Saves me the trouble of explaining it."

"Axel opened up a portal for us once when we were locked in Betwixt and Between," Donald explained. "It ended up dumping us in the World that Never Was."

Ignis frowned. "I saw some strange miasma here the other day. People were staying away from it, and I think they went to shine some floodlights on it last night in an attempt to burn it out. This is how you arrived here? I… suppose I have to apologize, though I think the city council ran the lights last night to burn it off."

Goofy nodded. "But if the floodlights affected it, that means these portals might be connected to the demons and the Heartless."

"'Might' nothing. They have to be. It's too much like my corridors." Demyx pressed fingers into the plaster cracks. Of course the locals found it and dealt with it in the only way that made sense to them. He couldn't begrudge them for protecting themselves, especially when their main weaponry was conventional, limited magic, and no sign of Keyblades anywhere.

"So, what's the plan, Demyx? This is your area of expertise."

"Well, the easy answer is to summon my own Nobodies. If that doesn't work, we'll have to bag us some Heartless."

"A hunt?" Gladio asked, arms crossed.

"Let's not rush and get our hands dirty yet," Demyx said, shaking his head. "I'm all for as little work as possible. Let me try the easier option first."

* * *

Riku splashed a handful of cold water on his face, looking in the mirror. The light bags under his eyes had started receding. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he'd had two actual nights of sleep. He looked down at his palm, at the timer. Every second they were dicking around was a second they could…

Riku splashed his face again. It was better to wait. Tomorrow night at the latest they'd have at least six more people to help, maybe more, if Demxy's and Ienzo's teams could get to Destiny Islands in time. Maybe with enough people who knew magic and keyblade wielding they stood a better chance. But the moment Coco took to the sky she'd be invisible to all but the dead, and probably untouchable too, given how Neku and his friends couldn't see or touch Reaper wings- and they didn't see Gabriel until she'd landed on the ground the night before.

Had he really only been there just under two days? It felt longer.

Riku stretched his arms, then his wings, rolling his shoulders and folding his wings high on his back.

Time to go.

* * *

"So what are we going to do?" Xion asked. "Their show is in three hours."

"And if my hunch is right, that's going to lead to a massive Heartless attack," Ienzo said. "We have twelve hours to get to Destiny islands, and… hang on."

"What's up?" Roxas asked.

"Remember what Pooh told us? How long was the time differential between his world and Radiant Garden?"

"Half an hour in Radiant Garden was… two days for him," Xion said. "You think very little time has passed outside?"

"I don't know. It could have been a lot of time, or nearly none at all. The question is- do we stay a few more hours here or leave now?"

"We have twelve hours on Sora's time, right?" Roxas said, tapping his temple absentmindedly.

"Yeah, about," Xion said. "Since Sora, Aqua's team, and Lea's are all on the same world, their rules of time would be the same too."

"And once we're out of here, we need to talk to Rudol quickly, but I can make us a corridor straight to the cave with the portal on Destiny Islands," Roxas thought aloud. "I say we stay. We'll either have plenty of time, or we're already too late. Staying till the evening won't change that."

"I want to stay too," Ienzo said, nodding.

"Then it's settled," Xion said, bopping Roxas on the head. "Are you ready to be bait?"

"**Joy**," Roxas muttered dryly. "I get to make an idiot of myself on TV, too. Just what I've always wanted."

* * *

"What was their challenge today?" Joshua asked, watching two people run across the street at a red light, cars whizzing through them.

"What I want to know is that lead on Yozora Gabriel mentioned," Riku said, watching another pair run through some cars before jumping into a Noise symbol, disappearing to their pocket dimension.

"You heard Coco. She said she had an off-world battery," Joshua said, sadly. "Uriel saw her healing him yesterday evening before shoving him in the bag, but didn't know why she was doing it, and, as you know, she can't do anything to her. Not directly, at least."

Vanitas was almost visibly fuming.

"I'm going to wring her neck," he growled.

The couple that had gone in the Noise popped back out to the city, and kept running until they ran straight into Vanitas, knocking him on his rear.

"Watch it!" he snapped.

"You can see- oh," the woman of the pair said, realizing she'd just knocked over a Reaper. The second person, a man, followed. Sora recognized the woman from the day before as the one who was worried about him once she realized he was still a kid, and offered a hand to her to help her up.

"You okay?" Sora asked, noticing that Beat and Neku were watching his movements; they couldn't see the dead woman and man, but they knew enough about the Underground to realize there was a ghost there.

"You… you're the Reaper from 104," she said, before looking at the group. "And not hiding your face."

"Um, hi!" he said, smiling, as she dusted off. "You doing okay?"

She looked between them. "You don't all have wings. Nice of you to help some of us and not others," she added, pouting.

"Huh?" Vanitas asked, getting off the pavement. "What, you think they're players?" he asked, jabbing a thumb towards Neku. "Try walking through him. He'll **love**it."

"What, no, I hate ghosts walking…" Neku said, before shivering as she did. "…through me. Stop that. You're freezing."

She snapped her fingers a few times in front of Beat and stuck her hand through.

"**Cold**!" he cried. "Not cool!"

"Of course it's not cool, you just said it was cold," Shiki said with a laugh.

"They can see you?" the woman asked.

"Reapers exist between worlds. Living people just see us as normal people, no wings," Komaeda explained. "We can't leave our district though, and we have to work to run the game or we lose our privileges."

"So, right now, this kid thinks you're nuts?" she asked, gesturing at Neku.

"He died six months ago," Komaeda said, grinning.

"Yeah, and you were an annoying shit then too, Komaeda," Neku said, smirking, fist bumping the reaper.

"Sis and I got hit by a car. We know they're Reapers… and what it means when we suddenly get cold for no reason. We can't see or hear you, but we know you're- ugh, stop it, yo!" Beat whined, shivering in the August late afternoon heat as the dead woman thrust her arms in his chest, haunting him. "Shit gets old real quick. When you come back to life, see how it feels when I dump a bucket of ice on you."

"So this isn't some empty promise? Really? We win this game and we get our life back?"

"No tricks," Joshua said, shrugging, before gesturing towards their living friends. "So you probably want to finish your mission."

"Your wings are different," the woman said, narrowing her eyes. "You're not the big boss or something are you? You look like you're fifteen."

"**Me**? Ohhhh, no. I'm not the Composer. Make it to your seventh day and you'll fight her, though."

"**Her**?" The woman asked, eyeing the group. Vanitas noticed Rhyme shift very cautiously on her feet, but her wings were still concealed somehow.

Her partner tapped her. "It's no use worrying about who she is right now, Li-chan. We should get moving."

"Yeah, we only have an hour left," she said, checking her hand. "Thanks for the insider info."

"Next time we charge for it," Joshua said with a smirk. "Get moving."

The woman ran off, the man looked between the Reapers.

"Who decides the entry fee to play?" he asked, meekly.

"Its complicated," Joshua said. "Why?"

"I didn't have anything taken, as far as I can tell."

"And you're telling us this, why? You **want **something stolen?" Vanitas asked, eyebrow raised.

"I… uh… no," the man admitted softly. "It's just… I was drunk that night, and I drove Li-chan home and… she doesn't remember. Not the crash, not me."

"Sounds to me like you did have an entry fee," Joshua said quietly. "You should go. If you're too far from your partner it can attract Noise."

"I'm hardly any good in a fight. I just run out of the way until it all gets in her side of the dimension."

Joshua took a pin out of his pocket and flicked it at the young man. It was blank.

"Try this," he said, simply. "It doesn't work on its own, but, if you and her trust each other, it might do something interesting."

The man looked down at it, before pinning it to his hat. "Thanks, Reaper," he said, before jogging after his partner.

"That was one of the pins Flood ate. It's totally useless," Vanitas said, looking at Joshua as the group walked through Shibuya's late afternoon.

"Yes and no. Yes, Flood ate the noise out of the pin. Doesn't mean it's useless, though. **All **humans make Noise. You just need to channel it correctly. Even you might be able to use one."

Joshua flicked another one of the pins Flood had devoured at Vanitas. "Try fighting with someone later and see if it works."

Vanitas held it up to Flood, who sniffed at the pin, before sticking its nose in the air in disgust.

* * *

Lea thunked to the floor, a large pink… thing in his face.

It huffed, before licking him.

"Ugh. **Gross**!" Lea whined. He'd seen an animal like that one only once or twice before. Page? Pigeon?

**Pig**.

"Get off, swine," he whined, pushing the rotund animal off of him.

He groaned, cast the only light spell he knew, and fumbled in the storage room to get up. There had to be a bathroom around there somewhere to clean off the pig spit.

And the whole place needed a good cleaning. Lazy he was, but living pretty much all his adult life under Xehanort instilled in him an irrational hatred of dust. The Castle was kept spotless, after all.

Helping clean the literal shack they were staying in would help clear his head until Sora and Riku sent him some material to work from.

* * *

"You have to be shitting me."

"The game did just come out less than a month ago, Vanitas," Komaeda said, looking at the machine with him.

"Flood isn't going to shut up until he has one," Vanitas glowered, looking at the claw game filled with plush shadow Heartless and flood Unversed.

Flood was pooling up, trying to shove himself into the prize hatch.

"Flood, in my shadow, **now**," Vanitas hissed. "I'll get you one if you do."

Flood chirped, and obeyed, bubbling under his master's feet just as one of the arcade attendants rounded the corner.

"Sorry, got a coin stuck in the hatch," Vanitas said, a quick lie to the glaring young woman.

"Oh, you did?" she asked, politeness hiding annoyance.

"Totally," Joshua said, rolling up the sleeve of his button down, giving Vanitas a face full of feathers as he showed his empty hand, bent down to the prize flap, and pulled out a hundred-yen coin.

Vanitas clenched his jaw and breathed heavily though his nose, his back ramrod straight. He was glad Shiki was right behind him, because he would probably have ripped someone's shirt with one of his black wing hooks if he'd been next to a Reaper.

The woman shook her head and walked away, as Joshua handed him the coin, followed by an entire handful that came from air.

"Do you want to win one the correct way, or do you want to cheat?" Joshua asked, a small smirk at the corner of his lips before getting a closer look at Vanitas's expression.

"Vanitas is having another panic attack," Joshua said, simply to the rest of the group, waving a hand over the coins to make them vanish as quickly as they came. "I'm going to take him outside, where it's less crowded. Have fun, and I'll take care of him."

"Wait, we'll…" Sora started, but Riku glared.

"Vanitas needs some time to re-center. You're good at these things, win Flood a plush, for when he comes back."

Joshua snapped his fingers at Vanitas, to pull his focus away from the chaos, and he felt the world drop away from him.

He'd been okay, not great, but **okay**, when they'd walked through the city. The woman bumping into him wasn't as bad as he'd expected.

Then again, they were on a fairly wide sidewalk, and he had time to recover.

Getting smacked in the face in the arcade was another story. Vanitas had no outlet. It was too narrow, too small, too crowded, too bright too noisy.. too…

And when Joshua snapped his fingers at him, it was like nothing else mattered.

"Vanitas, follow my finger with your eyes. Good. **Good**. Breathe."

It was like Joshua's voice was everywhere and nowhere at all, it was so simple, so calm. His eyes followed Joshua's finger, something that wasn't even quite processing in his brain because he felt like he was in a blissful, stimulus free white room. The arcade had dropped away, and to him, it was just him, and Joshua's pleasant voice.

It then hit him like a ton of bricks that Joshua was **controlling **him.

Vanitas panicked. **No**\- no, nobody was invading him, taking him over, ordering him…

"Vanitas, if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, you can slap me."

Vanitas swung, and it felt immensely satisfying. For a split moment, his vision melted to reality, Joshua standing in front of him, smiling gently, before the world turned white again.

"I'm just walking you across the street. There's a park bench there. We're going to sit, and I'll let go of your mind. I'm just walking you out of the arcade."

"I'll slap you again if you don't follow through," Vanitas replied, but it didn't have any growl to it.

"I want you to," Joshua said, voice an angelic chorus. "I want you to feel safe. Why don't we walk? You first, and I will not touch you."

Vanitas's legs started moving of their own accord, an odd sensation as he also felt like he was being gently hugged in a blanket burrito, without his hackles raising.

"Raise up your wings as you sit, so you can rest them on the back of the bench," Joshua suggested. It was a good idea, such a good…

…as Joshua promised, the white world faded away from him, first with the view of the city, followed by the noise. Joshua sat next to him on the bench facing the arcade on a Harajuku side street, looking a bit guilty.

"Sorry," Joshua admitted. "I usually ask before I mesmerize someone, but you weren't in a position to consent."

"Don't do it again," Vanitas growled, glad to have his faculties back.

"Nobody likes to be controlled," Joshua said, watching the comings and goings of all the people in the city. "But it's one of the big powers we angels posses. Messing with humans. I only use it for medical reasons- calming down people, pain management, that sort of thing. You screw with someone's head too much and… it makes me really uncomfortable, to be honest."

"It's how you got Sora to cooperate while you set his wing yesterday, isn't it?" Vanitas said, playing with his jacket hem.

Joshua nodded. "Again, I'm sorry. I needed to move you without touching you."

Vanitas curled up on the bench. "Will it ever go away?"

"What?"

"This." Vanitas said, gesturing at himself. "I… know it's going to take time, but I wasn't freaking out when that bit- that woman earlier knocked me over."

"It's not easy, pain. A lot of people take a shortcut and suffer for it. You're just going to need to take it slowly, and communicate. And some things might still set you off, years from now."

"How many pep talks have you had with dead kids?" Vanitas asked, eyebrow raised.

"Vanitas, I am very, **very **old. The city changes, the technology humans have has advanced… but the advice rarely does. I've gotten good at telling apart the people who lash out because they're genuinely horrible people, and those like you that just had circumstances thrown at them, be it bad parents, undiagnosed mental issues- don't talk to me about the Crusades- whatever." Joshua smiled, and looked at Vanitas fondly, like he was another person he could help, if just in the tiniest of ways. "You like sweet stuff? There's this weird stigma in Japan that guys don't eat desserts unless they're on a date or something."

"Dunno. I ate whatever."

"Come on, there's a crepe place near here. We don't usually have dinner until eight or nine at night since Uriel's district doesn't do set missions."

"If I hate it. I'm blaming you."

Joshua pulled out his phone, and shot off a quick text. "I let Komaeda know I'm dragging you to Cat Street. And… now I'm getting orders. Sora's asking what fruit we have on this planet."

Vanitas snorted. "If there's strawberries here, get him that."

* * *

"Joshua?" Vanitas asked, carrying five of the ten crepe boxes, all labeled in a language he was still surprised he could just… read.

"Hm?"

Tonight… after dinner, um," Vanitas said. He never really stuttered before, but he also never was… just himself before. "Can you do that thing again?"

Joshua stopped, and almost did a double take. "You **want **me to mesmerize you? Why?"

"I figured it was stupid."

"Vanitas, it's not, but I need some context. Usually when someone asks, it's because they're in serious pain. It's only a quick fix, it doesn't actually solve the problem. So I'll mesmerize, while someone else actually fixes the source. Like last night. I have a reaper in need of a wing setting at least twice a month."

"I've spent my whole life being controlled by Xehanort. The first thing you did when I started fighting your… mesmer, whatever… was you **let **me. I want to practice fighting back. Just in case."

Joshua looked down at the boxes in his hands. "I don't like causing harm. Not like that. Are you sure?"

Vanitas nodded.

"I guess it's a different kind of hurt," Joshua mused. "I suppose I can. Is that all?"

"I want to stop freaking out when people touch me," Vanitas, added, looking at his feet.

"Exposure therapy?" Joshua asked. "I'm not a doctor. Not by a long shot. I can try, though. But if you feel even slightly uncomfortable, I'm stopping." Joshua held out his hand.

Vanitas balked a little. "I meant through your mesmer thing! It helped strip out any bad thoughts I was having."

"You can't just practice in a vacuum," Joshua replied.

"Fuck you, I do what I want," Vanitas snapped, shifting the boxes to his other hand, and roughly engulfing Joshua's in his own.

"You know, in Japan, two people hold hands when they're dating," Joshua said with a smirk.

"I'm not Japanese," Vanitas huffed. "Neither are you."

"And here I was, trying to get you to feel self-conscious," Joshua said. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit."

"What's your charge on compliments, you bastard?"

"Oh, so I'm a bastard now? I mean, that is technically true…" Joshua said, grinning.

"Why are you smiling so hard?" Vanitas asked, taking his hand away and shoving it in a pocket. He'd had enough.

Joshua inhaled, and looked at the ground. "Because I think I know a way to defeat Coco. You asking to be enchanted by me gave me an idea."

"And suddenly you're upset about it."

"I was grimacing, not grinning. If I go through with it, I'm no better than…" he started, sighing. "I'm no better than the Conductor before Rhyme."

Vanitas glowered. "What did they do?"

"Turned the whole city into a hive mind. Controlled almost every living human here. It might be the only way to save Shinjuku." He shoved his free hand into a pocket and pulled out a red and black pin, looking at it, disgusted, before pocketing it again. "Someone really high up has to like her, with the way she's running her city. The only way we're going to knock her down is with one hell of a legal loophole I can send to the higher ups to say she's unfit."

"And what's that?" Vanitas asked, already dreading the answer.

"It's forbidden for Conductors or Composers- that's my title by the way, **Composer**\- to do harm to the living. No forcing people into an early game by killing them."

"You killed Neku."

"I had permission."

"From Neku?"

Joshua snorted. "I was… desperate. And I understand I'll probably never regain his trust for it."

"Seems like he trusts you plenty."

Joshua plopped down on the bench across from the arcade, Vanitas following, looking in at the bright lights and big displays.

"Maybe. But I can't just jack the entire city to do my bidding. I've learned my own lesson."

"Why'd you do it last time?"

"I was a prick."

"And now?"

Joshua froze, before howling with laughter. "I'm getting lectured by a video game anti-hero."

"I'm asking an immortal pretty boy to hijack my body later to help me get over my petty mental insecurities, your point is?"

"They're not petty," Joshua glowered.

"Neither are yours," Vanitas said, grinning coldly. "Takes an ass to know an ass."

"I… I'll talk to Rhyme and the others at dinner. It's their city. I just live in it."

"See? Was it that hard? And maybe one of your fellow feathered pricks has another idea to take Coco down that doesn't involve anyone but us."

"You don't think we've been trying? For months?" Joshua cried out, a genuine look of distress on his face. "I just don't want the blood on my hands of Riku dying."

"But the other reapers and players in Shinjuku are a-ok?" Vanitas snapped.

"They **are**," Joshua said, tightening his jaw. "Nobody in Shinjuku's actually gotten erased since Uriel stepped in. She's been working her ass off collecting their souls up. Coco just **thinks **she's been slaughtering people, and I need to keep that secret until she's gone. If Komaeda or Rhyme find out, it'll trickle back. If it does, Coco's going to get even more violent."

"Oh," Vanitas said, quietly, letting the implication sink in.

"Once Coco is gone, Uriel will revive everyone she's collected in stasis, and they'll restart the games for real, fair and square. Everyone deserves a right to fair judgement."

"Where are all the missing dead people?"

"That's up to Uriel if she's willing to say where she's stored them all. But there's thousands. Right now, Riku is really the only actual person in peril. I'd be willing to brainwash an entire city to save another, but I'm not sure I would to save just one-"

Vanitas frowned. "What about all those reapers living in filth and fear? They don't matter?"

"I hate you," Joshua snapped. "I hate you because you're right."

Joshua set his boxes on the space next to him on the bench and pulled out his phone. "Crepes before the ice cream ones melt, I can't bring them inside," he said into the device, before closing it and sliding it back in his pocket.

"You've been keeping the cold ones cold with your magic," Vanitas said, squinting at Joshua.

"I'll… talk with the others first, and then tell you my idea later," Joshua hissed, smiling as the rest of the group exited the arcade, Sora with a massive Unversed plush balanced on his head.

Flood exploded out of Vanitas's shadow, nearly tackling Sora over in an effort to snatch up the toy.


	17. e(x)it strategy

'Heya! This is Gabriel, one of Joshua's friends. Thanks for adding me to the group chat! Josh's kinda busy watching all the kiddos, so I've compiled the stuff you need. I've got two sets here; inside our house, and on the roof. Don't know how accurate your dark corridors are, Lea/Axel, so I gave you a small but 100% no outside eyes spot and a larger area that might be spied by normies. Let me know if you need more info, k?

Cya soon, and you better show me how you do it or I'm gonna be super pissed!'

Lea rubbed his forehead, and began sorting through the mess of attachments in the group chat. Sora had added someone named Komaeda to the chat, who added Joshua, who in turn added a bunch more people- this Gabriel person, plus Uriel, Neku, Shiki, and Raimu.

This was going to get too noisy too fast.

Lea pulled out a large roll of graph paper he'd found next to a box labeled **Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons **when cleaning the living room, covering the entirety of the kitchen table, and began sketching out an overhead view of the city block Gabriel had provided.

He didn't question how she had a perfect overhead view of the building.

"Morning, Lea," Ford said, jovially, attempting to start the kitchen pilot light to put on a pot of coffee. It sputtered three times before Ford went hunting for something in a cabinet.

Lea grunted, and snapped his fingers.

"I was going to go grab a fire-starter, thank you for that," Ford said, mild surprise as he watched the stove blaze without protest.

"I need coffee," Lea complained, as he went back to his sketching.

"Do you also need some rulers? And you're welcome to the kitchen, Lea, if you know how to cook."

"I have to work fast," Lea muttered, zooming in on the view of the roof on his phone. One miscalculation and he'd phase in through a power line. His best bet would be to open it up a few feet over the roof, then open a more accurate corridor back to Gravity Falls and…

"Earth to Lea?"

"Ruler." After a pause, he added, "**Please**."

"Why the sudden urgency?" Ford asked. "Are your friends in danger there?"

"One is. We have… less than four days to get him out before he dies for good." Lea erased something off his graph paper, squinted at the coordinates and maps, and began redoing his math.

"Haste makes waste you know," Ford offered quietly. "I'll put on something for breakfast and let you know when coffee is ready."

Lea just nodded, pulling at his now flat hair that was getting in his face.

"Mabel probably has a scrunchie, if you asked for one."

* * *

Demyx waved his fingers like a conductor ordering an invisible orchestra, and a portal opened up from thin air. Noctis watched apprehensively from his chocobo, while Donald just snorted, sitting on the trunk of the Regalia. Prompto's chocobo squawked, and the leaned forward to smooth her ruffled feathers and coo at it to calm down. Only two Dancers popped out this time, and they swayed to invisible music while Demyx poked and prodded at them, almost as if he were a doctor doing a physical.

"Are they… safe to touch?" Gladio asked.

"Wild ones? Not a chance. These guys are following my orders, though." Demyx scratched next to his eye. They'd rode- in the Regalia or chocobo-back- out away from the city for some privacy against prying Lestallum eyes. "They won't bite."

Prompto hopped off his bird and walked cautiously over. He'd always preferred creatures to people, for some reason, and these demons were humanoid, but only just.

Both swiveled their heads as he walked closer, and immediately reached out to grab Prompto. Before Demyx could completely impose his will on them, he realized they weren't intending harm and let them do their thing.

The two Dancers had wrapped Prompto in a long-armed hug, and were playing with his hair.

"Wha—hey!" Prompto whined. "I don't want to be Demon food!"

"They'd go after your heart first, if that's what they were after," Demyx said with a snort. "They just think you're one of them."

"They **what**?" Prompto paled, as Noctis attempted to stifle a laugh.

Demyx shrugged. "Ladies, **off**." The two backed off and bowed to their master, still swaying and jerking erratically; Prompto's face now beet red with his head bowed.

"You all just wait. I'm going to go see where they came from," Demyx said, jabbing a thumb at the Nobody's entrance portal. "Don't follow unless another one comes out and isn't aggressive; that'll be me sending one to ask for help. Any that do pop out that try to attack you, though?"

Demyx inhaled sharply. "If they so much as try, you have my permission to kill."

* * *

"I'm going to ask one final time. Are you sure?"

Vanitas clenched his jaw. "Yes."

Joshua pinched the bridge of his nose. It was six in the evening, Tomo, Sora, Riku, and Komaeda were out fighting Noise, Neku, Beat, and Shiki were picking up dinner, Rhyme was following up with her officers post that day's mission to gather reports and incidents, Gabriel was flying overhead to compile photographs for Lea, and Uriel was still sneaking around her own haunt collecting up any lost souls. By Wednesdays, the players would all already be crushed by Coco, and all she'd need to do was gather any poor, errant Reapers; though by this many months in, the ones that remained were all plenty tough enough to at least run away at the mere thought she was nearby.

Mondays and Tuesdays were still far too grueling, however.

So then, there was Joshua, inches from Vanitas's nose in his own cramped, tiny bedroom. There was barely enough space for the two of them on the floor to sit; Joshua didn't even have a bed. A hammock was strung above their heads- more like a thick cloth sheet than a net- with a slash running horizontally across. Vanitas assumed it was so Joshua could let his wings drop down without having to worry about phasing them through the material while asleep.

"Why is your place the tiny one anyway? Aren't you the leader?"

"I have exactly what I need and nothing more," Joshua insisted. "The whole city is my home; I don't need to keep it all shoved where I sleep. I have an office under the train station, anyway."

Joshua materialized a knife, and dropped it in front of Vanitas, face turning deadly serious; odd to see on the countenance of a teenage boy.

"I'm going to mesmerize you, and give you orders. Don't try to disobey everything; you'll wear yourself out fast. I want you to pick your battles. Fight me when and where it matters."

Joshua waited for Vanitas to make a sign of understanding, and when Flood- who was snuggling the stuffed toy bigger than he in the only free corner of the room- chirped, Joshua continued. "A few ground rules. I'm not going to control your mouth; tell me if you've had enough at any time and it stops immediately. I'm not going to put you in a position where you can actually hurt anyone; I will intervene if you can't fight off a particularly… violent order. Is there anything that would be crossing a line that I need to know about right now?"

Vanitas frowned. "Nothing I can think of."

"If you do, you tell me. Immediately." Joshua thought for a moment. "How would you have me handle if you have another panic attack? Leave the room? Force calm you down though the Mesmer?"

Vanitas eyed Joshua for a moment, then spied a glance at his Unversed in the corner. "You can pet Flood. That seems to work. If I get worse, you can do the thing you did earlier."

Joshua nodded. "Then let's begin. Vanitas, look at me, please." Joshua smiled gently and snapped his fingers right in Vanitas's face a few times. Almost instantly, Vanitas's eyes dilated, his pupils blowing out.

Joshua frowned a little. Vanitas went down extremely quickly, even for a human, even for one who was allowing themselves to be mesmerized. He really must have spent a lot of his life conditioned to follow orders.

Joshua bit his lip, and tasted his own holy ichor. Vanitas had said he'd wanted this, and Joshua understood why.

"Very good, Vanitas," Joshua purred. "Aren't you so obedient?"

"I… don't actually feel any different," Vanitas said, as if he were in an echo chamber. "I just can't see your room anymore."

"Hands on your head," Joshua ordered, and Vanitas obeyed immediately.

He growled a little. "Okay, fine," he muttered.

"Put them back down again. Very good. You know this is trivial, it's not worth fighting. But what about this? Punch me."

Vanitas socked him across the face. Joshua barely felt anything; Vanitas's strength still stolen as his entry fee.

"Did you even try and fight back?" Joshua asked him.

"Why would I?" Vanitas asked. "I tried punching Sora yesterday and that didn't do shit. I wasn't going to hurt you, though I kind of wish I could."

"So that was calculated."

"Not worth fighting."

"Very good, Vanitas."

Vanitas smirked slightly under the praise.

"Remember the knife I dropped?"

"Yeah."

"Pick it up. By the **handle**, if you please."

There was the reaction Joshua was looking for. Vanitas's arms were shaking, wavering against the order.

"Can I check to see if it's real?" Vanitas asked, struggling against his arm.

"So long as you're not checking by stabbing someone, you may."

Vanitas stopped fighting his arm, now that he had a new command. Deftly, he picked it up, and stabbed it straight down into the tatami mat, where it broke straw, wafting the pleasant scent of dried grass into the tiny space.

"It's real…" Vanitas whispered, again, fighting his arm to pull the blade out of the floor.

"Now stab me in the heart with it."

Vanitas howled with laughter as his arms yanked out the blade, and without any sign of resistance, plunged it right into Joshua's chest.

"Vanitas, what the?" Joshua cried, more in surprise than any kind of pain. "Let go."

Vanitas smiled as he dropped his hands to his sides.

"You didn't fight me."

"Neku's shattered your jaw and you just patch it up. I would have fought if you made me stab Flood."

Joshua groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're enjoying messing with me, aren't you?" he asked, as he put two fingers around the entry wound, healing his body as he drew out the knife, covered in his golden ichor.

"You're the one who told me to stab you."

"Fair." Joshua frowned. This wasn't going quite how he expected it to, but he wasn't upset by it. He just needed to adjust his approach.

"I'm going to transform. I want you to fight me where it makes sense to do so. It will always be me, but…"

"If you're Sora, treat it like I'm facing down Sora," Vanitas finished for him.

"Exactly, and…" Joshua pulled up his phone and focused on an image. In a moment, Vanitas was facing down a convincing mock of the sunshine child- Vanitas's own face with a palette swap. "Does this get the point across or do I have to change my voice, too?"

"That's fine," Vanitas said.

"Then pick up the knife and stab me," Joshua ordered.

Vanitas struggled hard, but Joshua's order eventually took purchase and Vanitas was staring down a Sora facsimile with a knife in his gut.

"I'm not going to play pretend that I'm in pain," Joshua said, pulling the knife out effortlessly as he shapeshifted again. "I don't want you having nightmares about killing your friends, Lord knows you probably do already."

"Thanks," Vanitas said, genuinely relieved that Joshua didn't use Sora's voice or make a scene of being injured, as he faced down Gabriel this time.

"Pick it up and stab me."

Vanitas allowed it to happen.

"Good. You didn't waste your energy on an angel." Joshua pulled out the blade, again, laced with golden blood that smelled like maple syrup and honey, wiped it off on his shirt, and shifted to Neku's body and face.

"Now, when you fight me, you're trying to push back against your whole arm. You're wasting a lot of energy doing that. This time, try and find the path of least resistance to disobey. Now stab me."

Vanitas again focused on locking up his whole arm, to try and prevent him from thrusting. As his ability to fight began to give way to the mesmer's desire to give in, just as his arms pushed forwards, he relaxed his hands enough to allow the blade to clatter on the tatami. His arms continued forward with the thrust, making contact with 'Neku's' shirt, pushing the angel backwards against the wall behind him, minorly annoyed, but without a chest wound.

"Very good! You obeyed the spirit but not the letter of the order. I'm proud, Vanitas, this is not easy."

Vanitas smiled. Joshua was… **proud**. Of **him**. It was like someone had shot him in the arm with adrenaline. "Again?" he asked, trying to keep his tone even, hiding his own giddiness of success.

"Let's, with Sora's face this time. I know you can fight me, and I don't need you having any bad dreams tonight."

* * *

Demyx wasn't sure if he missed these dark-bright tunnels or not. There was no sense or place or time in them, and worse, he had no idea where he was actually going. These tunnels didn't have a visible 'light at the end of'- you just walked until you were where you needed to go.

Which meant that Demyx was eventually going to just…

Drop out into nowhere.

The air was thick with dense smoke, blocking out the sun. Which meant the sun hating demons were terrorizing the city with full force. Demyx forced himself into a ball to take the brunt of the fall, rolling a few times in the cracked pavement, stilling just at the base of a bent and rent metal sign.

SHIBUYA SHOPPING DISTRICT

Demyx gulped as the two Dancers he'd accompanied returned to their horde, no longer directly taking his orders and returned to screeching through the city.

Following his Nobodies to get out was tantamount to suicide. Demyx, thankfully, remembered the way back and opened up his own corridor back to their small posse.

"Thank the gods, we were just thinking how to get you back," Ignis said, voice heavy.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, just following my minions is a seriously bad idea."

"Well, can you tell them to get off me?" Prompto piped up, whining, with three more Dancers cuddling the teen, running their fingers through his hair. These ones were new, but there was no sign of a portal.

"Dancers, off," Demyx commanded.

He could feel how dejected they were as they stepped back.

"They really do think you're one of them," Demyx noticed, as Prompto attempted to fix his already spiky hair.

"That's **great**," Prompto whined.

Demyx crossed his arms and tapped a finger on his elbow. "Mind if I check something?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm not like you, if that's what this is," Prompto said, steadfast. "I'm no demon."

"Maybe not, but there's regular people with affinity, too. Please. It might help us get out of here."

"Let him look at you, Prompto. I don't think he'll do harm," Ignis chided.

Prompto whined a little but allowed Demyx to lean forward to press an ear to his chest.

"Well, you've got a heart, that's for sure," Demyx said.

"Pft, I could have told you that," Prompto admitted.

Demyx frowned. There was something else though. Something dark, etched around the teens heart, without actually swallowing the thing whole. To a Heartless or a Nobody… he would probably feel like one of them.

This world's darkness had etched itself of Prompto in a very odd way. Demyx wouldn't pry- stones and glass houses- but…

"You do have a heart, Prompto. A strong one at that. But it's protected somehow. To a Heartless or a Nobody- that's the demons like the ones we fought last night, or the ones like me and the ones I summon- you'd register to them as one of their own. You're functionally immure to them."

Prompto's eyes went wide, placing a palm on his heart. "I'm.. immune?"

"Mhmmm… which means…"

* * *

"Focus, Tomo."

"I'm **trying**! All I'm doing is summoning my sword."

Komaeda had popped open a Noise dimension for them to fight in, and once they'd done a little shuffling between the two planes, Tomo and Riku ended up on one side, with Sora and Komaeda on the other. Riku could hear the two of them chat quietly- Komaeda was apparently teaching Sora some sort of psychic marbles-type game with their pins. Sora and Komaeda were only there keeping the dimensions open so they could be in a space devoid of being seen by the regular people traversing the real Shibuya.

Riku needed the space; he was trying to get Tomo to use his new Keyblade.

"Okay, then let's just spar with you using your sword," Riku insisted.

Tomo sighed. "I knew it was going to be…" he started, flicking his hand to summon his sword, getting Sketchbook Memories instead. "…useless."

"When you stop trying to force it is when you can use it," Riku said, a light grin on his face. "Lea had the exact same problem. When he stopped paying attention, it came to him. Now, let's get a better look at it, hm?"

Tomo held out the Keyblade. "It's heavier than my sword," he said. "I think I have to hold this with both hands."

"Try that. I fight one handed but Sora fights two. Remember, the Keyblade isn't really a blade- it's a bludgeon. It fights more like a mace than a sword. You're not slicing things with it, and I'd hardly call it aerodynamic."

"Bashing weapon…" Tomo muttered under his breath. "Are you sure I'm…"

"Tomo, you are quite literally holding a Keyblade. **Your **Keyblade, not someone else's, like a certain brown haired spiky idiot I know. Just start hitting me with it."

"I… what! **No**!"

"Use one of your black and white pins to summon some Noise," Komaeda said from the air. "The penguin ones move pretty slowly. That's a good start."

"Thanks, Komaeda," Riku said, fumbling through his pockets for black and white pins. "Think I got the right one."

"Just treat it like any of your psych pins."

Riku pressed on it, and a graffiti penguin materialized, squawking irritably.

"Okay, Tomo, I'll keep it still for now. Give it a good smack."

Tomo frowned, swinging the Keyblade down gently. He didn't want to break the 'key' part- the colored pencils looked so fragile they'd break on impact.

The penguin rushed him, knocking him right on his ass.

"Tomo?" Riku asked, offering a hand up. "Can I borrow it for a sec?"

Tomo shakily handed over his Keyblade, handle first.

"You're worried you'll break this, right?"

Tomo nodded, and Riku spied a vending machine. **Perfect**. He rushed the machine, and took a nightly swing, completely shattering the front of it, and knocking a few cans loose down into the pickup flap.

Maybe that was a little too much force.

Tomo's eyes went wide as Riku let go, the blade dematerializing and returning to its rightful owner. "So? How's the keyblade? As bad as this piece of junk?" Riku asked, kicking the vending machine. Two canned coffees rolled out of it in protest, and Riku tossed one at his other.

Tomo caught the can in his offhand and looked down at his Keyblade, then back up at the destroyed vending machine.

His new weapon didn't have a single scratch on it, let alone a pencil out of place.

* * *

"What's wrong, Mabel?" Kairi sat on the sofa, a plate of omelette and potatoes on her lap on a TV tray. Lea had commandeered the kitchen table, and with him their only way to Sora, Mickey and Kairi gladly gave him the space.

"Dipper ditched me."

"He did what?" Kairi asked, worried.

"He went with Grunkle- er, Great-Uncle Ford on some kinda weirdness hunting thing."

"So a boy's day?" Kairi asked her. "We can have a girl's day if you want. You don't need to do everything with your brother all the time, you know."

"Yeahhhhh," she said with a sigh. "I am having Soos take me down to the school gym. Grunkle Stan won't let us have our birthday party here. We kinda trashed the place with zombies last time, so I don't blame him."

"Maaaaybe doing something a little less… exciting makes some sense," Kairi said with a smile. "I can tag along if you want me to? I can't drive, but I also can't do much here except wait for Lea to finish doing math."

"Ew," Mabel said, sticking out her tongue.

"Hey, that math is going to let us walk into downtown Tokyo, halfway across the world," Kairi said, pouting. "And this world is **huge**."

"Yeah, well, I've fought wizards with magic math before. Still doesn't make math more fun."

Kairi blinked. "I think you've seen more battle than I have!"

Mabel puffed out her chest. "Most of it was done with golf clubs. And you'd be surprised how sturdy a karaoke machine is as a thwacking object!"

* * *

"Hey. Mabel. Hey."

Kairi sat quietly on Dipper's bed, watching Mabel's face redden. She'd been embarrassed at the high school when asking to use the gym for her party, her best friends couldn't even go.

These were the sort of problems a twelve year old should be having, Not zombies and inter-dimensional hell-beasts.

And now, she'd overheard on her walkie-talkie that Ford was asking Dipper to stay past the summer.

Just Dipper.

Kairi looked past Mabel at the miasma, still gently swirling on their bedroom wall. Maybe popping back with her to Monstropolis for a moment so she could laugh at Kairi's jiggly gelatin monster form might give her a moment's respite before Mickey, Kairi, and Lea would have to go- last Kairi had checked, Lea was testing out the portal by dropping small objects through; in a half hour or so they'd be facing down a Tokyo sunrise on Wednesday the 25th, with the time zones in mind.

She didn't get the chance to offer; footsteps pounded on the attic stairs, frantic.

At first, Kairi thought it might be Mickey or Lea telling her they needed to go.

But it was only Dipper.

Or, unfortunately, it was precisely Dipper, the last person Mabel would have wanted to see. She bawled, and freaked out, and after a short exchange, accusing Dipper of abandoning her, she fled the room, her brother on her heels.

Kairi sighed. Where had she seen this before? Sora and Riku, in a distant memory, when Sora held her heart inside his?

Kairi clenched her jaw. She could be upset about the situation, sure, but it wasn't something world ending. Maybe for the twins, but they'd survive this rough patch. They were too close to each other not to.

She squeezed her legging fabric, knowing any minute she'd be leaving these kids and their thankfully mundane problem behind. She'd worry, sure, but she'd come back with Riku and Sora, and whomever else in tow back through the portal they'd entered; maybe then she could sit down with the siblings and mediate.

'Kairi'

Kairi perked up. A text. Mickey. Lea must be ready to go.

'Kairi hit the deck.'

Kairi spared a glance behind her, to look out through the stained-glass window.

A gigantic X had torn itself in the sky.


	18. eye of the gods

"Ienzo… what are you doing to my Nobodies?" Roxas asked, confused.

Ienzo was rubbing them gingerly with sandpaper, one with what could only be described as its chin to the ceiling. It looked like it was enjoying the attention, and, despite its master not directly controlling it, it wasn't attacking.

Ienzo wondered if the Nobody still recognized him as a former master over his own legion. Xion didn't have a legion of her own, but a Nobody she technically still was.

"Gonzo said their varnish was reflecting the lights. I'm just dulling it a little."

Roxas put up a finger to protest, before catching himself. "Yeah, okay, as long as you're not hurting them."

"I think they like it- maybe it's like a facial or something?" Xion said, smiling a little at the one that was already done and sitting contently in the corner of the dressing room. "You want to direct this one back out to the stage to make sure he doesn't blind anybody?"

Roxas sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Come on, noisy," he directed at the Samurai marionette, who clicked loudly after him down the hall.

* * *

"It's not trying to bite my hand off," Joshua said, surprised, as he slowly got to touch Flood for the first time. It's short fur was incredibly soft, and Joshua almost giggled like a small child. "I want one."

"You said all humans make Noise. Do you?"

"I used to, but mine didn't look anything like this. And I haven't been able to since… since this world got destroyed."

"Right, that game Riku was playing. That really happened?"

Joshua nodded, absentmindedly rubbing behind Flood's antennae with a thumb. Vanitas closed his eyes and breathed deeply, in an odd sense of calm. The mesmer had certainly helped ease his mind, but that was a side effect of forced compliance. This was voluntary, and it actually felt… almost pleasant.

Once the initial shock of dealing with the angel wore off, Vanitas found his presence oddly comforting. Maybe because Joshua didn't know who Vanitas was before- he wasn't like Gabriel who had played the video games that had him in it- but Joshua knew enough of their world to follow and understand. He didn't have any preconceived notions of what Vanitas was and wasn't.

And little by little, Vanitas was discovering they weren't so different.

"Why'd you lose it?" Vanitas asked, enjoying the comfort through Flood without direct contact.

"Beats me," Joshua said with a shrug. "When I slide between dimensions sometimes I gain and lose power. Local physics and all that. Like Gabe said, she can't do time magic. But she can fold dimensional space. You should see what Akihabara's UG looks like. It's nuts."

"And you can't summon Noise?"

"Nope. It's not a big issue in a place like Shibuya, though. There's enough living people rubbing up against each other that their emotional friction makes plenty on its own. And the officers mostly self-regulate. I really just handle major disputes, injuries, and extraneous incidents now; there's not much need for me to directly intervene with people actually cooperating. It's… nice. And I'm on better terms with the Reapers. They didn't even know who I was before. I didn't reach out back then; I really should have. I was an angry antisocial shut-in who just thought the world was a mess without even giving it a chance."

"Sounds familiar," Vanitas said, arching his back as Joshua gently scratched down Flood's back. Joshua smiled lightly as Vanitas mimicked Flood- or rather that the two shared such a connection. He then frowned, noting the area around Vanitas's feet bubble and boil.

"Vanitas… your shadow," Joshua said, worriedly.

"Mph?" Vanitas said, blinking out the stupor. "**_Fuck_**."

A blue head popped out, squawking. Vanitas frowned. "That's… new." Nervously he reached out a hand to the bird head bobbing out. "You're… not an Archraven."

The bird screeched loudly, as if demanding. Vanitas doubled over, shoving his arms into the inky darkness of his shadow all the way to the elbows, and pulled hard. An extremely irate bird with neon green and blue plumage kicked its legs as Vanitas birthed it from his own darkness, flinging off wisps of purple shadow as it screamed into the world.

Joshua held out his arms like a cradle to take the fledgling emotion from Vanitas, eliciting a jealous whine from Flood. He was hit with a tidal wave of warmth as the bird screamed bloody murder at him; a strange combination, indeed.

"A… peacock?" Joshua asked as he held the large bird out at arm's length. Vanitas's shadow settled, and Joshua passed the new Unversed to its master to give more attention to Flood, who was whimpering and crawling up Joshua's slashed-open shirt to get in his face for headbutts.

Gently, Vanitas rocked his new friend, as it alternated snuggling up to his chest and screaming like an incensed Canadian goose with its long neck right in Vanitas's face.

"I don't even know what this is! Flood is fear, Hareraiser is sadness, Red Chili is joy…"

"Maybe that one is anger and this one's joy? Or vice versa?" Vanitas asked, getting Flood to calm down by bouncing it on a knee, if just by a hair.

The peacock Unversed just shook its tail feathers and screamed again in Vanitas's face. "There is no way this little shit is joy. What are you, you hollering abomination? **_Annoyance_**? **_Irritation_**? General asshole-ness? I would have created you ages ago…"

Joshua cocked his head side to side. "Stab in the dark here… but perhaps it's pride?"

"What you think, you ear-piercing banshee? Pride?"

It bit Vanitas's nose.

"**_Fucker_**," Vanitas whined low. "Whatever you are, you're not going anywhere, are you?"

The peacock struggled out of Vanitas's grasp and attempted to strut, not even having two paces to do so, shook its tail, and preened.

"I don't know if that bite meant yes or no," Vanitas muttered, rubbing his nose. "Whatever it is, I hate it already."

"So this is a new emotion for you?" Joshua asked, thinking.

"That's typically how it works…" Vanitas said, wincing as Joshua's sliding door opened with a slam on its runner.

"The living have returned with food offerings for our deceased comrades," Gabriel said, in a faux-spooky voice, before dropping the affect in mild shock. "Also… um… why is there a bloody knife and Vanitas on your floor? Sora's been looking for him everywhere."

Joshua pulled his phone out of his pocket and facepalmed. "I should have let them know you were with me," he muttered.

The baby Unversed screamed again, and Vanitas, frustrated, stuck a finger in its beak. Surprisingly, the bird didn't bite down, but suckled on it.

"I was teaching Vanitas some self-defense," Joshua admitted, looking up at Gabriel.

"In your closet of a bedroom." She seemed unconvinced.

"This kind," Joshua said, pointing at his temple. "And then, when we were done, Vanitas had a baby."

"I didn't have a…" Vanitas started, before looking down the infant emotion. It had calmed, sucking Vanitas's pointer finger, and was snuggling warmly to his chest. Whatever it was, pride or otherwise, Joshua's lesson in fighting mind control had definitely been the reason the whiny peafowl had manifested. "You'd better not be a deadbeat father or I'll keep stabbing you."

Joshua looked pained. "Not in front of our son, Vanitas! Think of his virgin ears!"

"Well, congrats on the kid, but if you think Aunt Gabriel is changing its diaper, you clearly don't know me. Come on, I rearranged the rest of the apartment; we have a second floor now."

* * *

Roxas sidestepped the giant plushes moving set pieces and shimmied between the old seats. He'd never been a child- not directly- so the change in perspective was extremely foreign to him.

"Rox!"

"Hm? What's up Walter? Where'd your brother go?" Roxas looked around. The human shadow that was Gary was nowhere to be found.

"He… had to leave." Walter kicked a chair back and it squealed from the rusted metal strut.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah.. so… I don't know exactly but… his girlfriend- Mary, the one with us when we accidentally switched phones?- she got mad. So Gary went to try and patch things up. It was kinda my fault, too."

"Are you… gonna be okay?" Roxas asked. "You seemed kinda… attached at the hip."

Walter grimaced. "As good as I'll be I guess. I don't really have a talent like you and all the others though."

"You wanna be my assistant?" Roxas asked, thunking the Samurai's chest with his fist. "I can show you how they work."

"No, but thanks. I need to find my own talent. You're leaving after the show's over, right? So… I can't just help you. I need to do my own thing."

"Yeah, we're leaving after. We have to find our friends. And they're not here."

Walter nodded.

"I'm sure you'll think of something, Walter. I'll be honest, this is my first time doing anything like this."

"But earlier…"

"Was Ienzo's idea. I've never been one for limelight. Speaking of, I have to check to make sure my minions aren't ruining the video. Come on, you clinking armor, lets make sure you aren't too shiny."

Walter whistled low as Roxas passed by with the wooden automation.

* * *

"Really your guess is as good as mine," Terra said, scanning the icy spring for more Heartless. "I wonder if the thing that is affecting Riku is messing with the Heartless too. We **_are _**on the same world."

"That would not be unheard of," Artemis commented, yawning. "And my apologies. I have been up all night. I doubt I will get any solace until we are on a flight to Tokyo."

"Yeah," Ventus agreed. "But I can't just sit around. It's making me nervous."

"Well, unfortunately, you were put under my care until Holly or Foaly return."

"**_Our _**care," Butler gruffed out from a nearby rock. "If you have some sort of **_scheme_**, Artemis, fess up."

"What do you ask of an angel that's offering a fee for transit?" Artemis mused aloud. "What **_can _**you ask an angel? Can they revive the dead?"

"Artemis, you heard how Holly reacted, whatever this creature is, he's trouble."

"He's also desperate," Artemis countered with one of his trademarked grins. "And the people with him trust him. I may not place my own cards behind others so easily, but… he doesn't sound like he's going to trick us. Not when we have something he needs."

Aqua pinched the bridge of her nose. "Please stop talking about us like we're objects. I know we may be game characters here, but…"

"That doesn't mean we're not real," Terra finished for Aqua, as she hugged Rainfell to her chest, scaled down for her smaller elf form. "All three of us thought we were just… I don't know, but '**_not real_**' about covers it, for far too long. I was possessed, Ventus barely clinging to life through the magic of another, and Aqua lost to time and darkness."

"I… am truly sorry," Artemis said quietly. "I will try to be more mindful. How about this… I can show you around the city, at least. We have plenty of time to waste, and little to do."

Terra turned away from the spring, and his reflection in it. "It's better than just sitting around."

Ven stretched his wings and flitted around Butler's head. "I could use a little exercise."

Aqua giggled behind a hand. "You look like an oversized Tinker Bell."

Ventus stuck his tongue out at her, and buzzed over her head. "I'll take being green if I get wings too. And here's something I've wanted to say for like… forever. Terra? Aqua?"

The two looked overhead at him buzzing and grinning.

"What's up, Ven?" Aqua asked.

"You're **_grounded_**."

* * *

"Whoa," Riku said, eyes wide as he opened the door to the angels' apartment. "How?"

"Redeeeeeeecorating," Gabriel chirped. "Just until we kick y'all out. It's cramped in here and it's gonna get worse."

"Redecorating isn't just making a second floor inside an apartment," Riku said dumbstruck. "What happens if we go up a floor in the elevator?"

"You go to the next apartment, duh. I've folded space here, not slid an extra floor in the building. Our boring old mid-level exec living upstairs doesn't even know. C'mon, it's just a multipurpose tatami room upstairs so we can all eat together, and you get your own sleeping space. Plus two more bathrooms. Sharing ain't caring, not with twelve of us and counting."

"**_Twelve_**?" Tomo asked.

"It's a lot easier to keep track of you kiddos in one space," Gabriel said, shrugging. "And it means Neku doesn't have to keep commuting in. Plus, by tomorrow we might double with all your friends pouring out of the woodwork. Better set this up now and get used to it."

"Why don't you just keep it like this all the time? You could live like kings."

"We all have offices in our own districts, the apartment's just for washing, eating, and sleeping."

"And scheming," Neku added, grinning from the top of the stairwell. "You know, you could ask me before just assuming I'll stay over."

"Do you want to take an hour train home and then squeeze in on a rush hour train tomorrow?"

Neku put up a finger, then lowered it. "Point. But what about my parents?"

Gabriel coughed. "Mrs. Sakuraba? Yes, this is Shujin Academy. We have an overnight event at the dorms for new student orientation. Would Neku wish to participate?" she asked, sounding exactly like his principal.

"Okay, fair," Neku replied. "Why do I even doubt you guys?"

"Because your puny mortal mind can't comprehend our vastness?"

Neku just rolled his eyes. "Food's getting cold."

"Didn't you pick up sushi?"

"Soup's getting cold."

Gabriel grinned. "Come on, upstairs."

Riku rolled his eyes, but slipped off his shoes and followed before looking back and drawing his Keyblade on Tomo.

Reflexively, Tomo put up a hand in defense. His Keyblade materialized, blocking the blow.

Riku dismissed his, and nodded, with a small smile. "Think fast?" he asked with a nod.

Tomo bowed his head and sheathed his own. "I didn't summon my sword."

"There's nothing wrong if you do," Riku said, mussing his replica's hair. "But it's no substitute for a Keyblade when you get good at it."

Sora pulled Tomo into a one armed hug, startling him a little. "You'll be a master in no time!"

* * *

"So…" Joshua said, frowning as he brought dinner-slash-meeting to order. "Our guests should, if all goes well, arrive tomorrow. We need every tool we can have at our disposal to take down Coco. We **_are _**doing it Thursday. No room for error. One, because we lose some of our best on Friday. And two… Riku doesn't have much past Saturday night, if that timer is for erasure."

Silence, as chopsticks clicked on plates, save for Sora who simply couldn't get the hang of them, and was given a pair of plastic children's chopsticks; a large pair of tweezers.

"Of us four… Tomo's the best at magic," Riku said, simply. "I'm probably the best offensive fighter, or Vanitas now that he's got a keyblade. Sora's use of pins here is probably the best."

"That doesn't help much if we can't see," Joshua countered. "And as long as she holds that man hostage, she seems to ignore basic laws of magic."

Neku nodded. "And we can see in Shinjuku when she releases the fog, but when she's in the air, she's as good as gone. Do you have any plan? Rhyme… what about you? Are you… dead or alive?"

"A… alive," Rhyme said, poking her fingers together. "I can see in Shinjuku **_and _**I can see Coco when she flies. But I don't think I can fight her all alone."

"Kid, we wouldn't dream of it," Gabriel said. "That woman is a beast."

"I… came up with an idea earlier. But I don't like it," Joshua said, poking at a stray grain of rice.

"You mentioned. Let me guess, it involves mind control," Vanitas said, plucking an egg sushi off his plate. Neku had made sure to get him vegetarian ones, and he was a little grateful.

Joshua flicked the red and black pin he'd shown Vanitas earlier onto the low table they were all seated around.

"Nope, I'm out," Neku said, flicking the pin with a well aimed shot right back into Joshua's lap.

Sora had half a mind to ask him if he could teach any Tin Pin moves to him after dinner.

"I told you I didn't like the idea either. And I'm not planning on making it permanent."

Shiki sighed. "Hear him out first. You were never controlled by one of those. I was. And I'm willing to **_listen _**first."

Neku glowered, but rolled his wrist. "You have five minutes to convince me you're not off your rocker."

"Aren't I already?" Joshua asked, before diving in. "So, for the four of our offworld friends, these pins imprint. Mass mind control. I wouldn't use this one, mind. I'd make my own. And the goal is to imprint just one thing."

Joshua sighed. "**_Walk to Shinjuku_**."

"Walk… to Shinjuku?" Neku asked. "How's that going to help?"

"Shibuya is the busiest intersection in the world. We get enough of them to move to Shinjuku and…" Joshua clenched his jaw. "If Coco tries to fight us, she's bound to accidentally kill a bystander."

Uriel gasped. "You **_wouldn't_**."

"I wouldn't. Because the higher ups would have my head for killing a living person. It's inexcusable without specific, explicit permission. We don't need to beat her. We just need to get God involved."

Neku was on Joshua, strangling him, in a moment flat. "You.. callous… inhuman…"

"Neku!" Shiki yelled, and Neku slowly released his hold, Joshua gasping.

"Oh, don't give me that shit. You don't need to breathe."

"What.. happens… when… we… instate… a… new… conductor?" Joshua gasped out, trying to regain his breath.

"Their rules are absolute."

"And don't you think we'd ask them to make whomever got accidentally killed by Coco null and void? They'd be dead for minutes, a few hours tops. I wouldn't make anyone who was collateral damage play the game- at least not from this. That's unfair."

"You don't have control over Shinjuku," Neku said, getting off Joshua and glaring.

"No, but with Coco out, I would. And guess who appoints a Conductor?" Uriel asked Neku. "**_Me_**. The only reason I can't touch Coco is that she was already Conductor when I got moved there."

"You're still… you're still playing with peoples lives. What if God or whatever thinks you played dirty and puts a crony of his in charge of Shinjuku? What if you can't bring them back? What if-"

"This is why I thought this plan was bad!" Joshua cried, rubbing his neck, not mad at Neku for his violent outburst in the slightest- frankly, he thought he deserved it. "But it's all we have right now, unless you can think of something better."

"**_Triple Seven_**." Beat hadn't said a thing all dinner, and only now spoke up, staring fiercely at Joshua. "Neku, you're worried n' shit that the angels can't follow through, right?"

"What's Triple Seven?" Gabriel asked.

"**_Who_**," Shiki explained. "He was a barrier Reaper when we were in the game. Koinishi erased him."

"Why did nobody tell me about him when I cleaned up after that mess six months ago? I brought you all back to life."

"It's not like we knew to ask," Rhyme offered. "Prove to Neku that your plan isn't going to permanently endanger people. **_Bring him back_**."

"I need more than a name," Joshua ordered, tapping the table with his fingers out of rhythm. "Anything you can tell me about him. And how he died. And where."

Neku calmed down, and inhaled, but was cut off by Komaeda. "He was my friend. You can… do it?"

"I need more info, but yes, I could," Joshua said confidentially. "I might have to… change his form for a while to tether him here, but I could bring him back."

"Change his form?" Beat asked, skeptically.

"How we saved your sister from erasure by making her soul a pin?" Joshua replied, eyebrow cocked. "I fixed Rhyme up properly once she'd tethered back to this existence. Your love of her brought her home."

Beat's face turned red and he looked down at his plate.

Vanitas laughed under his breath. So that's what Uriel has probably done with all the souls she was saving in Shinjuku.

"He was my friend," Komaeda offered, digging out their phone. "He sang lead in Def March, a metal band that played over in A East, when he was off duty. I wasn't… I was indisposed when he died though. I was controlled by one of those red pins. I don't remember that week at all. Here."

Komaeda passed over their phone. "Oh," Joshua said quietly. "I remember him. Koinishi… killed him?"

"She set up a trap in the concert venue meant for Beat and I. He went in first," Neku said quietly.

"So it was the week the city was under mind control… over in the concert area in A-East…" Joshua thought aloud. "I know who he was. I think this is enough to get a lock on him."

"You bring him back… and I'll be willing to be complicit in this," Neku said, the fight worked out of his voice. "And… I'm sorry for throttling you."

"No harm, no foul," Joshua said, waving it off. "What's a little murder between friends anyway? Let's see what miracles I can pull…"

Joshua scooted himself back from the table, and spread his wings to a full span, and began to glow the same shade of gold as his blood. His irises and pupils melted out of his eyes, glowing a neon white.

"Um… I can see this, yo," Beat said, mouth to the metaphorical floor.

"He's tuning his vibe," Uriel explained. "Angels can cross space-time, so long as we can tune into the right frequency. It's powerful enough that anyone can see it. Even mortals."

The energy-being Joshua snapped and glitched, and everyone else at the table, save the other angels, felt themselves being torn into a million pieces. It didn't hurt; it just felt like you were everywhere and nowhere at once.

Overwhelming was an understatement.

As quickly as it started, it faded. Joshua glitched back to his humanoid form, glaring up at Neku.

"Neku?"

"No good?"

Joshua shook his head. "Not… quite. Did you actually see him die?"

"I…"

"We found his necklace, yo. On the floor."

"Did. You. See. Him. Die."

"…no," Neku admitted. "But no Reaper's seen him since. You think… he survived?"

"Oh no, but now I know what I'm doing. Hang on, I'm bringing him home."

Again, Joshua jittered reality to its foundation. Riku gripped the table, feeling an oddly familiar sensation. It was just like when he was taken out of time, minus the physical shredding of a limb or any actual pain.

The universe stilled, and collectively exhaled a breath of air. Joshua was holding liquid gold, that, rather than pooling up around him, began to solidify.

The thing- nay, young man in a fitted, shorter version of the black hoodie with detailing the barrier Reapers wore, short platinum blonde bleached hair, and extremely tight pants- inhaled a sharp gasp.

"**_Fuck_**!" he cried.

"Seven!" Komaeda gasped, and ran, tripping over their own feet to help him sit up.

"Ko! Hey man," Triple Seven choked out. "Ugh. Anyone have some aspirin?"

"Water?" Joshua asked, holding a hand out to levitate a glass to the reaper.

"Yeah thank- what the nine hells? Neku? Beat? Shiki? Why are you breakin' bread with Reapers?" Seven flailed, but Joshua held him firm.

"Calm, Seven. Breathe. Have some water, sit up."

"A… are you an angel?" Seven asked, finally taking a good look at the person keeping him still.

Joshua nodded. "We've met, but I don't think I've ever formally introduced myself. I'm Joshua, the Composer Of Shibuya. And I just pulled you forward six months in time. Sorry about that, but it's a stable time loop I had to fill."

Neku scrunched up his face. "Stable loop?"

"You didn't see Seven actually get erased. Just saw his choker and heard him scream. And today you tell me this. I go back to save him, but I watch myself grab him and disappear. So now I know I have to go back again and take him away before he steps on a trap set by Koinishi- which I disabled by the way, Neku, you're welcome- and here he is, after I go back a second time. He never got erased to begin with. I just had to take his choker off before pulling him forward to close the loop."

"This is making my head spin, yo." Beat pulled at his hair. "So… what would have happened if we didn't tell you about him?"

"He would have stepped on Koinishi's trap and been erased. And I would have found enough of his soul to scoop up and put in a pin until he was whole enough to revive. Except then you would have told me about him and… I need you guys to understand. I don't just own Shibuya. In a very real sense, I **_am _**Shibuya. The same holds for Uriel over Shinjuku. Or it should, but Coco's vibe is blocking any major magic. Take it out and…"

"…Uriel can restore the city," Neku said, staring at Seven, who was awkwardly accepting a quiet sobbing hug from Komaeda. "Holy fuck. I… punch the teeth out of a god…"

"You mean I **_allow _**it," Joshua said with a smirk. "Be glad your benevolence rubbed off on me."

* * *

Twelve became thirteen, as the circle of the dead- current and former- shifted space to let Seven sit and inhale leftovers and catch him up on the goings on.

"Koinishi's gone?"

"And Minanoto. And by gone," Joshua said, wagging a finger, "I mean **_gone_**. If they were erased, I would have found traces of them. They're either truly wiped off the map or outside my influences, and I'd stake my magic on the latter. Tokyo alone has 23 wards."

"Uzuki?" Seven asked, downing more miso soup.

"She's a lieutenant now. I got rid of the points system."

"My bandmates?"

"I… sat down with all the Reapers after the incident- all of them. I revealed myself, and opened the floor to questions. They did **_not _**hold back." Joshua laughed as he winced slightly. "I got an earful and a half that night. Change's been way quicker than expected, though. And… I offered the Game to any Reapers that wanted to try for reincarnation. I know many only took the job because it was a safer choice than erasure. I want the people working under me to actually want to be here."

Seven narrowed his eyes. "What of B.J. and Tenho?"

Joshua pulled out his phone and scrolled, clicking something and putting the device to his ear.

"…Beej? No, I don't need you for anything. Someone else does, though."

Joshua passed the phone to Triple Seven, who looked at it like it was a venomous snake.

Rhyme made a motion with her hands, and the reaper snatched the phone from Joshua.

"B.J.?"

The phone wasn't on speaker, but the entire group could hear uncontrollable wailing on the other end of the line.

"B.J.! No, I'm fine! No… Joshua pulled me out of time, it's me… yeah, no, really, I'm okay. I… you still a…?"

Seven's face fell.

"You? And Tenho?"

Seven swallowed, looking around at the group.

"Then I'm coming too. I'll see you all next Sunday. Okay? You'd better be at the scramble Sunday night. Got it?"

Seven shut the phone. "You could have told me they re-entered the game as Players, you ass. Would have saved me that."

"But my word wouldn't have been as good as yours. You don't want to take any time to acclimate?"

"Fuck no, I'll just get lazy. Put me in the next game. I'm gonna win my life back, and we'll tour the country. Together."

"Rhyme, what say you?" Joshua asked.

"Of course. I expect to see you next Sunday, Triple Seven."

"**_Taro_**. Name's Taro. You can call me Triple Seven when the band's back together."

"I'll have to take your wings from you first," Rhyme said, standing up and walking around to the soon-to-be-former Reaper. "If you accept me taking away your powers it wont hurt."

"Course I do."

Rhyme pulled gently on his wings, and crushed them between her fingers.

"He's gone," Neku said, a little surprised.

"He's just a regular soul now," Rhyme said. "Lay down, Taro, I have to turn you into energy and take your entry fee."

Taro laid down on the tatami, grinning. "Back to zero, huh?"

"I'll give you the same starter pins as everyone else. If none of them work for you, just find a Reaper on Monday and whine at them."

"Got it. God, the games gone soft, hasn't it?"

"It's gotten **_fair_**," Rhyme corrected. "If you're an idiot and get yourself erased, it's your fault. The Reapers just don't do that anymore; there more like GMs and moderators than antagonists. Just keep your eyes open and fight for your life back."

"You got it, sis," Taro said. "Anything else?"

"Eyes closed," Joshua said, and Taro obliged. Joshua placed a five yen coin over each eyelid.

"Best of luck," Komaeda said, smiling, as Taro faded into light. "I'm not going easy on you."

"I sure as hell hope-"

The pair of coins dropped through the faded soul, rolled on the tatami mats, before finally coming to a halt.

Joshua scooped them up.

"What's with the coins?" Rhyme asked. "We don't need to put coins over someone's eyes to put their soul in the game."

"Trying an angel's equivalent of an old wives' tale. Neku, catch."

Joshua tossed Neku one of the two coins. "**_Goen_**. Means both five yen coin as well as a connection to the gods. And, conveniently, has a hole in the center. Try looking through it. I want to see if the urban legend's true."

Neku put it up to an eye, closed the other one, and looked through the hole in the center.

"**_Shit_**."

"What, what's it do, yo?" Beat asked.

"I can see the UG."

* * *

Of everyone in TWEWY, man did 777 get the absolute short end of the stick. He just... disappears. Gone. All that's left behind of him in Week 3 is his choker on the floor of the A-East concert venue. Everyone else that was erased or maimed during the game shows up alive in the epilogue (or still a Reaper)... but no such luck for Triple Seven. And he's a genuinely nice Reaper in the game! He never attacks you, and all his missions involve helping out the band.

He deserved better. He might have survived- Joshua put everyone else back where they should have been- but they don't show his fate beyond the choker and the scream.

End TWEWY rant.


	19. a pair of brand new idiots

"Give it, yo. I wanna see." Beat leaned over, using his size and muscles to try and worm Neku away from his coin.

"What, hey, Beat, wait your turn!" Neku said, annoyed, pushing his friend away.

Shiki dug around in her pockets, found a five-yen coin and held it up to her eye. "I don't see anything different. Does it have to be… charged up or something?"

Joshua flicked the other coin to Beat. "Hence the urban legend among angels. There's not exactly many chances to test if it works. One, you need to get a coin to charge. And two, convince a mortal to look through it. And given the general asshole nature of my people… even if they tried the former for the hell of it, they sure wouldn't give any power like that to a human."

"Sis, I thought you had wings," Beat said, face a little crestfallen. "You can disappear like the Reapers can."

"Remember how the Reapers in Shinjuku sort of… faded from sight- but not even Coco saw them when she came down earlier?" Rhyme asked. She rolled her shoulders, and a pair of glittering pink wings materialized into view. "Obfuscation. Hides things even from Reapers. It's my best skill."

"They're… um… very pink…" Neku said, trying to find a compliment.

Rhyme fluttered then a little, turning them a deep burgundy. "Well, I like changing their color. There's no reason to keep them black."

"Well…" Neku said, handing the coin to Shiki so she could take a look. "This is… kinda useful, but you only have two. And I don't think any other Reapers want to bow out to next week's game just to get us two more eyepieces."

"Which is why I'll fly to Yoyogi and raid the offering box at Meiji shrine," Joshua said, grinning. "It's worth a shot, everyone there dumps their five yen coins to gain the gods' favor. Barring that, I'll sleep with some on my eyes tonight. I expect you all to do the same," he added, sweeping a hand to the Reapers and angels seated at the table. "Maybe we can charge some more up. At the very least… two people can use them."

"I'll make some monocles from them," Gabriel offered, stretching and levitating up the plates to bring down to the kitchen. "Shouldn't be too hard to turn them into something a little more user-friendly."

"Thanks, Gabe," Joshua said, waving his hand to telepathically sweep up the refuse into a trash bag. "Oh wait, before you all go. Vanitas?"

Vanitas grinned, and peeled under the table. "Hey, whiny, come on out."

Flood bounded out from under the table, pawing at the remaining pieces of sushi in front of Vanitas. He offered a cucumber roll, which Flood greedily grabbed before hopping on its back legs to Sora for attention.

A second Unversed waddled out from under the blanket Vanitas had rolled up for them to nap at his feet while they ate. His Unversed ran on his emotions, not food, so it was more a treat than a requirement for them.

"Whoa," came a collective gasp from the table.

"That… doesn't look nearly as much like Noise as Flood does," Neku said, surprised. "It's… a peacock?"

"Sorry, this asshole was created today. I'm not sure what emotion it is. Joshua and I think he's pride, but your guess is as good as mine. I'm surprised he's stuck around. My other ones don't come out unless I specifically draw on them."

"Which means it's some new emotion you just… have now," Gabriel said, reaching down to touch it.

It screamed at her.

"Right now, only Joshua and I can touch it. Makes sense, he helped bring it out."

Uriel's face lit up like the sun. "Well, a pleasant surprise, that, Joshua. You haven't had a lover in centuries!"

"What… no… for the…" Joshua said, face crimson, before Uriel burst out laughing.

"Gabriel told me what happened. I just wanted to get a rise out of you."

Vanitas's shadow began to boil, and a small creature poked its head out. Vanitas, face equally red, dug a hand in and yanked out a small white canine looking creature by the scruff, it's cheeks rounded with red fur, it's crimson eyes in permanent U shapes, tail curled up around its legs.

"Thanks, you…" Vanitas started, before catching himself, "…you **person**. You're the mother of my embarrassment. This beast's yours now."

* * *

Vanitas's embarrassment faded almost as quickly as it materialized, and somehow… Vanitas felt better about it existing. Even when the peacock receded, dipping back into his shadow after Joshua went out for an evening flight through his city, Vanitas felt a little more at peace.

He could feel himself opening up- expressing himself- for the first time. It was like that shop clerk had told him- maybe for him, dying hadn't been such a bad thing. He was finally, truly free.

"All right," Uriel said, once the table had been pushed to a far corner and the floor swept of their things. "We've moved the gentlemen up here, and the ladies to Gabriel's room downstairs. Komaeda, we'll set up space for you where you prefer."

Komaeda looked a little embarrassed, themselves. "Up here is fine," they said. "There's way more room, anyway."

"I've added two more toilets at that end of the hall," Gabriel pointed, "and a small, one person bath, and a larger one that's identical to the one downstairs on that side," she added, pointing the other way. "The shoji screens slide around so you can give yourselves private rooms, or not, or combine into a few separate spaces. Your choice. Everyone's personal belongings are in the closets behind me. If you want anything to eat or drink, the kitchen's stocked, or go to the FamilyMart next door. Key to the apartment is hung up next to the entryway. Any questions?"

"Can you check my back?" Riku asked sheepishly. "My wing feels funny."

"If you pulled your muscle, I'm going to kill you myself."

"I'm dead, Gabriel."

Gabriel opened her hand, revealing a gaming controller. "I'll drop your avatar off a cliff then."

"Shiki, Rhyme, how does a girl's night sound?" Uriel asked. "Gabriel and Joshua won't watch romantic comedies with me," she added, pouting straight at her friend and roommate present.

"Because they're boooooring," Gabriel whined.

"Ooooh, can I do your hair?" Shiki asked.

Uriel blushed. "You… want to?"

Shiki grinned, hooking an arm around Uriel and Rhyme. "Maaaaaakeoooooovers!" she cried as she dragged them down the stairs.

"At least she's directed her fashion fury at someone other than me," Neku whined under his breath, pinching the space between his eyes.

* * *

"Well, you didn't tear it, Riku," Gabriel said, checking his back while pressing at different points. "But it is a little inflamed. Do you want a massage?"

"I couldn't," Riku said, face down on the tatami. "Don't you have some eyepieces to make?"

"I only sleep an hour or two a night. It's really no big deal. And actually… Beat. Use one of the coins and watch. You should learn how to take care of her wings; she can't. I've been doing that."

"Uh, yeah," Beat said sheepishly. "I remember the first few weeks were pretty rough for 'er. I wanted to help, but I couldn't see her wings."

Gabriel rubbed her hands together. "Okay. Lesson time. Riku, my test subject. On your stomach, shirt off."

"What.. hey!" Riku said, clutching his shoulders.

Gabriel laughed. "I can do it shirt on, but it's far easier otherwise."

Riku rolled his eyes and pulled off his shirt.

"Whoa," Beat exclaimed. "Since when did you… uh… what's the word? **Shred**?"

"Get ripped?" Neku asked, elbowing Beat in the ribs. "Last I saw you, you were a stick. And that was only through a dream."

"I took on the form of my fourteen year old self when diving through the sleeping worlds," Riku said, as Beat and Neku lifted the coins to their eyes to watch. "I'm seventeen, now, and swinging a sword for a couple years will do it."

"Here's a fun little trick," Gabriel said, with a mischievous grin. "You all see this little knob here, right at the bottom of where wing meets back? There's one on each side. Angels have them too." She pressed hard with her thumbs and pushed up. Riku reflexively snapped his wings upwards and yelped.

"It's like when someone uses one of those hammer things on your knees. Reflex. If you catch a Reaper off guard in the air like this, you can send them spiraling earthbound."

"Or an angel," Tomo said, raising an eyebrow as he watched, scooting a little closer.

"Hey, Komaeda, you mind working on Tomo at the same time? I'm sure he's probably sore, too."

Tomo looked a little embarrassed. "I didn't want to ask, but yes, my shoulders hurt."

"Have you ever had a massage before?" Komaeda asked, as Tomo took off his windbreaker and top, and laid down next to Riku.

Tomo thought for a moment. "No… not that I can think of."

"You just let me know if it's too much, then, okay? We joke about which one of us is secretly a jackhammer back at the dorms."

"**Phrasing**," Gabriel muttered.

Sora pouted. "My back still hurts too, you know."

"Wait your turn," Gabriel admonished.

"I… could try to help," Vanitas offered.

Sora backpedaled a little. "No, no, I can wait! I'm not that immature, right Riku?"

"Keeping my trap shut here," Riku grumbled.

"No, you're a baby," Vanitas insisted, grinning, pushing Sora to the tatami.

"At least let me take off my shirt," Sora whined.

* * *

Vanitas followed Gabriel's instructions to the letter, and soon, Sora was just short of falling asleep right there on the mats. Vanitas smirked, observing just how easily the idiot trusted him. Sure, his ability to really hurt him was gone, but he could have sicced Flood on him in a heartbeat, snapping his neck or ripping a wing.

But Sora was **his**idiot, dammit, and there was something to be said about making someone else feel that trustworthy of you.

Vanitas wasn't even sure how he'd even earned it.

"All right, that's enough. Beat, Neku, hand me those coins. Komaeda, you mind if Beat works on you?"

"What? I'm gonna suck, yo, and I can't do squat without the coins."

Gabriel pulled some yarn from a pocket and quickly fashioned a headpiece by knitting the coins together.

"Now you have two," Gabriel insisted, handing back the makeshift goggles. "See if our wings are corporeal to you while you're wearing them."

"This looks stupid," Beat said, as he pulled the contraption over his head. "Sure of it."

He reached out and touched Gabriel's wing, pulling at the feathers. "Feels solid to me."

"Yeah, ow, yeah," Gabriel whined, snapping her wing back from Beat. "Practice on Komaeda. Vanitas, you want, or no touching?"

"Not from you," Vanitas admitted.

"Tomo, you want another round? I want to show Sora and Riku what to do."

"I'll take as many as you're offering," Tomo said, dreamily, in no desire to move from his spot. "That was amazing."

Riku mussed Tomo's hair. "I'm glad."

Sora slowly sat upright, shaking out his wings and rolling his shoulders. "Vanitas, thank you. I needed that."

Vanitas went pink to his ears and the puppy poked its head out of his shadow, just for a moment.

"You're an open book," Riku said, letting the dog sniff him as Flood whined.

"Yeah well… you're… uh…"

"Thanks for the info, Captain Obvious," Neku said dryly, rolling his eyes.

Vanitas exhaled, grateful for the save. His shadow bubbled a little again, but smoothed our as the dog disappeared back into it. Vanitas gave Flood a few quick head scratches to calm down his jealous fear, wondering why one of his Archravens- his own jealousy- hadn't made an appearance.

"Vanitas, I know you're probably going to say no, but… would you like one, too? A massage, I mean. It'll help a ton." Sora looked expectantly at him. "Seriously, don't feel obligated. I know this is a lot of new stuff for you."

"Why not," Vanitas said, chucking off his own jacket and shirt. "But if I say stop, you stop."

"Yeah, of course. Only a jerk would keep doing something you don't want."

"For once, Sora has a point," Riku said dryly, as he scooted to the side with Neku to watch Gabriel show the next group what to do.

Flood whined.

"Sora's busy right now, buddy," Gabriel said, as the small creature nervously slipped around the group trying to find someone to bother.

"Nudge Neku, he cant see without those coins," Vanitas sighed out at it. "Everyone else has been giving you attention today."

Flood head butted his master on the shoulder, before running at full tilt to knock over Neku.

"What, hey, I'm allergic to cats," Neku whined, getting a face full of demanding Unversed. "Holy cow are you needy."

"If anything bothers you, you tell me, okay?" Sora reminded Vanitas.

Vanitas swallowed a ball of spit. "Yeah," he muttered. He could feel his connection back to Flood; the absentminded head scratches the creature was receiving translating back into a sense of calm. Vanitas heard Tomo yelp, as she walked Beat through the wing reflex, but Sora didn't do it to him.

Vanitas exhaled, grateful again. Sora was a bit airheaded, Vanitas knee as much from the hazy time in his heart, but he was also incredibly empathetic.

Vanitas vaguely wondered what his Unversed would look like if he made any as Sora finally, gently, placed a hand on his bare back. Vanitas flinched, but Sora just kept it there, not moving it or attempting to prod further until he felt Vanitas's back still.

He loosely remembered Sora reminding Neku to pet Flood. "It calms Vanitas down, too, they're connected," he vaguely heard Sora say as Vanitas felt his own wings began to loosen and relax.

The last time he'd felt this safe and comfortable was when he was in Sora's own heart. Sora stopped for a moment, before forgoing the massage, leaving forward and giving Vanitas head scratches.

And the floodgates opened.

Vanitas started quietly sobbing and convulsing, and he couldn't figure out why. Nobody was hurting him; he felt, good, actually… so…

"Vanitas?" Sora said, worried, lifting his hands off. The positive feedback from Flood ceased a moment later.

"No, I'm…" Vanitas said, choking on a quiet sob. "I'm fine. I'm… good."

"Sora, he's overwhelmed," Vanitas beard Riku say. "I'm not sure he's processing this-"

Vanitas felt a large hand- no, **paw**\- grip his jeans, and pull for purchase. He tried to turn around to help yet another infant emotion, but was shaking too much to do so.

"So-So-Sora…" he chattered. "**Pull**."

"You want me to help pull it out?" Sora asked. Vanitas nodded, shakily, alternating between sobbing and laughing hysterically. His emotions were going haywire as he flipped on his back and tried to clear his mind by staring at the featureless ceiling.

"Riku, help, this thing is… huge…" Sora grunted with exertion.

Riku came around the other side of the giant creature being born and grabbed it under a shoulder, pulling hard.

"It's gotta weigh like… a hundred pounds or more, stuck in molasses…" Riku groaned. "More help. Now."

Gabriel and Beat grabbed on, as Tomo and Komaeda shook themselves out, sitting upright to be ready to help as needed, while Neku helped soothe the panicking Flood.

With an audible thwunk sound of pulling something from heavy mud, the four of them fell backwards on their rears on the tatami as Vanitas's third new emotion of the day stretched itself out and began grooming itself.

Sora looked shocked at the large new creature. "Why does it look like me?"

* * *

The lion cub- more aptly lion teenager- lumbered to its master and promptly laid down on top of him.

Vanitas stilled, his crying laughter reduced to dry whimpers. "Thank you," he choked out, both to the group and the new emotion, whose crown necklace was clinking in his face. The lion nosed Vanitas and huffed, gently taking one of Vanitas's arms in its mouth and moving its head in a circular motion before dropping the limb.

Vanitas laughed weakly. "Oh, you're just as needy as Flood," he said, as he began petting the beast.

It huffed in satisfaction.

"What is it?" Tomo asked. "And why did Sora say it looked like him?"

"It's easy, it's been trying to surface all night," Vanitas said aloud, directed at both the beast and the room.

"It looks like how I do when I visit the Pride Lands. It's a world of talking animals," Sora said, scooting himself to get a better look at the new Unversed. "I'm cursed to change my form when visiting worlds that don't have humans, so I don't stick out like a sore thumb or worse."

Vanitas nodded, and muttered quietly to himself, "I vaguely remember that from being your tagalong. Guess it stuck."

"Or worse?" Neku asked, Flood now crawling up into his nest of hair.

"One world I frequented was almost entirely water," Sora explained. "So I'm a mermaid there. I know how to swim, but I'd eventually get too exhausted, and probably drown."

"I'm trying to picture that, and can't," Neku said. "And that has to be weird to swim as. Your legs are just like… fused together?"

"Nope, a tail comes straight from your spine," Riku said. "It's more like swimming by wiggling your ass."

"I didn't know you've been to Atlantica! You have to show me what you look like!" Sora whined.

Neku and Beat snorted, while Vanitas laughed quietly, finally grounded with the lazy Sora-esque lion huffing in his face. The only major difference between Sora's Pride Lands form and the beast pinning him to the floor were the telltale Unversed eyes- crystal red, in upside-down V's.

"So, what are you?" Komaeda asked, nervously holding out their hand.

"You can touch it, I'm doing a lot better now that it's out of my system," Vanitas sighed out.

Gingerly, Komaeda placed a hand on its flank. "Hello… oh wow. You're… warm."

"Like… heat warm?" Beat asked, a little nervous at an Unversed as big as a person.

"Like… heart fluttering…" Komaeda replied. "It feels like… when someone does something nice for you and you're just overwhelmed by generosity."

"**Gratitude**?" Riku asked.

Vanitas shifted a little under the lion. "Most likely. And would explain why it took so many people to pull it out. Th-thank you."

Sora reached out to pet it. "Wow. This is… overwhelming. I feel like my heart's gonna burst."

"No wonder you started freaking out, man, I can't even imagine," Beat said, giving it ear scratches. "You could pretty much ride this dude into battle if you wanted."

"How about it, asshole, wanna rip Coco to shreds?" Vanitas asked it.

The lion chuffed and bore its teeth.

"Oof, talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth," Gabriel commented. "That gratitude of yours could deal some serious damage."

Neku held Flood out to its new brother. "I think that's called killing them with kindness."


	20. weirdmageddon -1

Lea looked to the sky, staring frozen as a triangle in a top hat, as large as a skyscraper back on the World that Never Was towered over Gravity Falls's nonexistent skyline. It's singular eye bounced, surveying the woods and small town he knew existed, but hadn't even yet visited himself.

The creature rose up, hit an invisible ceiling, and grimaced, before pointing angrily at everything around him. From the kitchen window, Lea watched in horror as trees became giant feet, stomping around, the sky blackened, and giant eye-bats- Lea couldn't tell from the distance if they were Heartless, but they certainly seemed it- descended on the skyline.

Lea looked down at his cell. Signal was gone, and time had stopped to the second.

He waved his hand, attempting to open the portal he'd just about perfected… to nothing. Not even a sputtering attempt of a dark corridor's miasma.

He looked out the window again, and noticed a literal silver lining to the clouds above. It was almost as if they were trapped in a massive bubble, outside of space and time.

Lea looked at his hand, summoning fire with no effort at all. So his magic was intact, at least.

If only everything else were.

* * *

we've hit twenty chapters, 80k words, and over 100 comment threads on this fic- just counting AO3's comments (that's not counting back and forth discussions, or any of my own replies!)

holy! c o w!

to say thanks, i wanna show you two things. unfortunately fanfiction dot net doesn't allow any links in the stories so please find this chapter over on my Archive Of Our Own page (same username, divisonten) to check out some art and cosplay pictures, including making Lea's Keyblade- Flame Liberator.

oh yeah. this chapter was stupidly short for a reason so you get two tonight.


	21. like pulling teeth

tw: talk of suicide

(also keep in mind two chapters were posted today, 20 and 21, if you skipped to newest chapter you may have missed one)

* * *

One could hear Joshua re-enter the apartment by the clinking of coins. The boys, Komaeda, and Gabriel, all seated back around the table playing an impromptu Tin Pin tournament, turned their heads to the sound. There was a clicking as a door slid on the floor below, and light chatter, followed by a whine.

Joshua didn't bother walking up the stairs, and fluttered next to Gabriel at the table, sitting cross legged. He waited for Beat to moan in agony as Vanitas performed an impressive trick shot before dumping about three-hundred five yen coins on the table.

"Shiki, Beat, and Neku, I need your help sorting," Joshua said. "I grabbed anything that felt strong but…"

Neku spread a small pile out over the table, grabbing one seemingly at random and holding it to his eye.

"Yeah, this one works. Not as clear as the ones from Triple Seven, but I can see there's something there that shouldn't be."

"So they do just need to be charged with Imagination," Joshua said, smiling. "I'll grab the ones from the strongest wishes and we can all sleep with them. That should help strengthen them more. I don't think we need full visibility, but…"

"Anything is better than nothing," Neku finished, rapidly going through a stack of coins, sorting them into two piles.

Beat pulled a pile in front of him, doing the same, and Shiki, slightly crestfallen for putting her event on pause to go back ustairs, quickly went through a stack of her own.

"How many we need, yo?"

"As many as possible, but… let's say fifty," Joshua replied, already gone downstairs to grab something. He returned quickly, hefting what looked like a tiny waffle iron, sheets of plastic and cardstock, and a sketch pad.

Neku glared at the pile of art supplies.

"You really are going to imprint, aren't you?" he muttered.

"If you have a better option, I am all ears. Or I can be. That whole Biblical 'flaming wheel of eyes' thing did come from **somewhere**."

Uriel and Rhyme marched quietly up the stairs with a funny looking label maker; Uriel's hair in a fancy updo and Rhyme's nails painted.

"You didn't have to pause," Shiki said, embarrassed, holding up a coin to look at Uriel and chucking it in a pile.

"Well… we weren't going to finish without you," Rhyme said, with a gentle smile. "And if Joshua's going to go and make some imprint pins, I have to help. I **am **the Conductor."

Shiki swallowed. "Right."

Joshua sketched out a simple design in marker, and added hints of color, before yanking out the sheet from the sketchbook. He opened up the small metal waffle iron device, and everyone spared a glance. It was filled with layers of different presses and dials, one of which he spun out sideways, clamping down on the sketchbook sheet to punch out the design as a circle. He flipped it open and stuck it in the label-maker, flattening the device's top and opening it to reveal a mass of curved stamps. It was like an old-time press inside, and Joshua thought out loud as he rearranged the little rubber blocks.

"I think that might be too weak," Uriel said, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes but if I swap the orok for unak it's going to be too much," he said, pensively, putting a hand to his chin and covering it with iridescent ink. "I'm not going to force people to lose their sense of self."

"What about enif?" Rhyme asked, pointing at a symbol.

Joshua was deep in thought, holding up a few of the blocks, covered in different kinds of squiggles.

"Maaaybe. Though I'm not sure how well that fits the cant. The tune'll be off."

"Music theory?" Sora asked, peering over. "I don't know too much, but some of my spells are sound based."

Joshua nodded, in thought. "Theory's only going to get me so far. I'll have to make it and test. And yes, all our magic is based on music. Calling those monsters made of discordant emotion Noise isn't just a flourish."

Sora paled a little. "**Ohhhhhh**."

"You need a guinea pig?" Komaeda asked.

"Not you. This is only designed to work on the living, for obvious reasons. I don't want to accidentally sweep up the dead with our little parade to Shinjuku. The higher ups wouldn't care about a Player or Reaper as collateral damage."

Neku sighed, pushing the last of his coins to the side. "I'll do it. Under one condition."

Joshua slid the last of his test blocks in place, closed the lid, and pulled the lever. The circle spat out the back, Joshua's crude art on one side and a spiral of iridescent designs on the other. He loaded it back into the metal machine with a piece of cardstock, plastic, and a metal pin back and pressed down hard, slamming the machine shut with a whine.

He let go, and the thing sprung open, a fully-formed pin inside.

"Beat? Shiki?"

They looked at each other, Shiki shaking her head hard to cut off whatever Beat was planning to say. It looked like they were willing to be controlled for the sake of testing Joshua's pins, but were deferring to Neku for an unknown reason.

"Really?" Joshua asked, slightly exasperated, biting his lower lip. "**Fine**. Neku, what's your condition?"

"Tell me what my last fee was. For my Game."

"The other players? Or did your memory get scrambled?" Joshua replied, a little cagey.

"No. The **last **fee." Neku glared across the table, puffed up almost like an annoyed cat.

"What, the shootout?" Joshua asked. Sora made an uncomfortable face, and made to stand up, but Neku grabbed his arm.

"No. I want witnesses," he growled. "Yes. The shootout. I lost, didn't I? So I shouldn't have gotten that fee back. What was taken?"

"You would have lost it either way," Joshua said, quietly, looking at the floor, folding in on himself, wings wrapped around like a down blanket, before realizing that Neku couldn't actually see them. Before the orange-haired teen, Joshua was as good as naked.

"Louder."

"You. Would have. Lost it. Either way." Joshua was pointed, sharp, and flapped his wings out. Vanitas noted it's aggressive, but useless. Neku couldn't see that pose either.

"It was rigged?" Neku asked, folding his hands, cupping his chin in them. "I mean, the whole thing was, wasn't it? Just… your last in a very long line of stupid unfair games."

"No, Neku. It wasn't rigged," Joshua replied, deflated. "You want to know? You **really **do?"

"Yes."

"The reason you would have lost it no matter what is that **I**** had to pay a fee too**, Neku. I'm no more exempt from those rules than mortals. And, given the fee is the most important thing to us… well, your memories wouldn't have worked, Shiki was already dead, and other players didn't matter for that. So what was your fee? And what was mine?"

"We… had the same fee?" Neku asked, eyes wide. Joshua always knew the kid was smart. He was Shibuya, after all. He knew of all his children when they walked in his borders.

Neku frowned as he repeated with confidence. "**We had the same fee**. So no matter who lost, it was going to get taken."

"Got it in one."

"So what was it?"

"What was left to take, Neku? And what was the most important thing to me at the time, do you think?"

Neku stared for a while. "Shit. Shit. Shit. **Shit**. Is this why I have an urge to deck you whenever I see you?!"

Joshua nodded.

"But… we're friends again, now, aren't we?" Neku asked weakly.

Joshua laughed hollow. "After all that? You still want to be **friends**? Neku, I **ruined your life**."

"Yeah. You did. But I'd be a liar if I didn't say I deserved it. Some people need a slap in the face. That's you too, by the way. You think I would have stuck around if I didn't hear how you redid the whole thing here? You fucked up, Joshua. **Bad**. I won't ever forgive that and I hope you know it."

Neku snatched the pin out of Joshua's fingers. "But that doesn't mean we can't be friends too, right?"

Vanitas felt something in his gut, and his shadow boiled.

Neku gave it half a glance. "My turn to be a dad? What'd I stir up in you?"

Vanitas looked down at it, as a small monkey with no eyes crawled out of its own accord and latched hard on to Vanitas shoulder.

"**Guilt**."

* * *

"Isn't it supposed to… you know… turn me into a zombie or something?" Neku looked down at the pin attached to his shirt collar.

Joshua frowned. "I didn't realize it extended this far."

"What?"

"Your protection. From Angels and Reapers. I thought it was just a ward from being hurt."

"Is this thing painful?"

"I mean… I didn't write it that way. Maybe I can't imprint on you at all?"

"Well, if the cosmos requires my express permission for you to fuck with me in this **very **specific case," Neku said, eyebrow raised. "I'm allowing it. You did hold up your end of th…"

Neku's eyes glazed over, and he toppled like a lifeless doll.

"Neku!" several voices cried out in unison. Joshua focused on him, and slowly, Neku sat up, unblinking, with a thousand yard stare.

"Well, he gave me permission," Joshua said, shrugging. "I have total control of his body. If I wrote this correctly, he shouldn't be in pain, or remember this. Neku, if you are conscious, I'm reading your mind to make sure everything's in order."

Joshua winced, and immediately took the pin off. Neku gasped for breath.

"And this is why I'm doing a test run. **Neku**?" Joshua asked, concerned.

"I… Ugh. I'm gonna hurl," he whined. Joshua put a hand on his abdomen, and Neku looked visibly relieved.

"Okay, I do need to change the middle stanza," Joshua muttered. "Was it more like vertigo, or…?"

"It was like someone was pulling on a belt around my waist, tightening it until I'd explode," Neku said, trying to fix his breathing.

"Fuck," Joshua whined low, pulling out the typekit and changing around his imprint. "Can I try again? I've changed the message just a little."

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead," Neku said, dismissively.

"Why are you subjecting yourself to this?" Joshua asked.

"Because it means Shiki or Beat don't have to. Or the thousands of people we're going to tag."

Joshua nodded, and pinned the new pin to his shirt once it was ready. "Neku, I'm listening to your thoughts again. You there?"

Neku's body just sat, unmoving, for a moment before Joshua took off the pin.

"What was wrong with it this time?" Neku asked, as Joshua quickly swapped out the type and made another one.

"You're conscious. I want you to sleep this off."

"Oh."

Joshua pinned the new one on, watching as Neku slumped and then sat up. Joshua looked at him, cocking his head.

"Okay. Much better. Light grip, doesn't seem to be in pain, and his consciousness is taking a holiday in Bora Bora."

"Literally or figuratively?" Gabriel asked, before opening the label maker and looking down at the typeset. "Oh. **Literally**."

Beat made a confused "Bwuh?" sound.

"Josh basically made a dream state for the people the pin imprints. They think they're just dreaming, hanging out on a beach," she explained, tilting the device so they could see the blocks, not that anyone could understand them besides the angels and Rhyme. "Did the red skull pins hurt, Shiki?"

"No… I just felt like I was in this fog that wouldn't lift. No matter how much I ran it felt heavy. It wasn't painful so much as really scary."

Neku stood up and walked around, as Joshua kept an eye on him. He was still a zombie walking, until he grinned to slide onto his cushion at the low table.

"Well? Little more human, little less puppet?" he asked.

Shiki looked bemused. "Joshua, tone back the smile. Neku's not the Cheshire Cat."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Bit too much of me in it, yeah?" Neku and Joshua asked simultaneously. Sora winced. It was unnerving.

Beat actually fell over. "Holy fuck, man," he wheezed.

"Yeah, yeah. Children of the Corn," they said, together, with the same hand gestures, before Joshua reached over and removed the pin.

Neku looked a bit woozy for a moment, then shook his head out, blinking the stars from his eyes.

"Remember anything?" Joshua asked. "Did it hurt?"

"…palm trees?" Neku asked. "Feels like my mouth is full of sand."

"You kissed Josh. On the lips," Uriel said dripping with sweetness.

Neku went straight past red and into purple, Joshua the same.

"He just had you pace around the room," Sora offered. "Don't listen to Uriel."

"Soraaaaa," Uriel whined. "You're no fun."

"And you brought out embarrassment in Vanitas," Sora replied, crossing his arms and standing his metaphorical ground. "I don't like people messing with my friends."

Uriel deflated a little, and bowed her head. "Apologies. I've been a little too on edge recently."

* * *

Vanitas could hear it- no, he realized, as he slowly pulled himself out of sleep- he couldn't hear it, but he could **feel **it. There was no doubt in his mind that Sora was crying in his partitioned off space. Vanitas moved to slide the screen that separated their sleeping areas apart, only to realize it was holding fast.

The rat bastard used **Magnet **on it. Riku had asked if people minded if he slid the screens up to have a private room; Vanitas could tell enough from what interactions he'd had with him that Riku was really more on the introverted side and needed time to decompress. Vanitas quickly asked the same; he also needed some time to clear his head, sorting through his four new emotions and not get accidentally hit by a barbed wing in his sleep. Beat then admitted he snored, and Riku offered to cast something to dampen the sound on his own screens. So Vanitas hadn't thought much of Sora shrugging and suggesting that everyone have their own room for the night.

"Sora, open up before I ask Flood to deal some property damage," Vanitas hissed at the paper screen. "I know you're crying in there."

Vanitas watched a few sparks bounce around from the other side, and tried the screen again. It slid on its runner without protest, and Vanitas saw Sora, clutching his knees, eyes puffed red, curled into a ball.

"I cast Silence on myself; how?" Sora croaked out as Vanitas scooted over to slide into Sora's space.

"Your emotions are fucking loud, Sora," Vanitas hissed, sliding the screen behind him. "Now tell me what's bothering you before I sic my Unversed on you."

Sora let out a huff, somewhere between a tiny laugh and a crying choke. "Then I'm not telling you."

Vanitas puffed out his stomach and sneered. "No takebacks. You asked for this." A mighty shadow appeared on the screen behind Vanitas, angrily coalescing. For a split moment, Sora actually looked worried, until Vanitas's lion emerged, tackling Sora and rubbing its face all over him.

"Soft…" Sora said, under the weight of the live fur rug squirming on him for purchase and attention.

"Now talk, before I drop more on you. And I don't have too many positive emotions yet. The next ones won't be nearly as cuddly."

"Vanitas… I'm tired. Worried. Afraid." Sora closed his eyes, and sighed. "I can't put on a brave face for everyone all the time."

"Then don't?" Vanitas asked, propping his chin up on his hand, elbow on the tatami as he leaned close to look closer at his double. Or, really, he was the double and Sora the original? Vanitas didn't quite know how it worked.

"But…"

"Don't. Look, you keep that bad stuff cycling in you, and you'll drown in it. Xehanort named Floods **Floods** for a reason. They're small, most of the time. Each was a tiny little worry or fear. But have enough of them gathered together, and you could drown someone in them. Having just the one right now is okay. It keeps me grounded. I… I know I'm afraid of shit. But back home… something could set me off and they'd just pour out of me. It hurts, Sora. It hurts to have your emotions rip from you, and have someone tear them apart. Don't let yourself wallow or you'll end up like me."

Sora wiggled an arm free from under Vanitas's lion. "You're going to need names for all your new friends."

"Eventually. Once I figure out exactly what they are."

"Let's share, then," Sora offered, waving his hand as close to Vanitas as he could under the lion-trap.

Vanitas swallowed, and grasped Sora's hand. It was warm, rough and calloused; not like Vanitas's, as he always had worn his bodysuit with gloves while Sora had just worn bracers the last time Vanitas saw him in his own clothes. Years of being a child soldier would do that- roughen your edges and callous them over. Vanitas found Sora's anxieties, his worries, his fears.

When he was under Xehanort, he'd been conditioned to loop them endlessly, weaponize them into sharp points and black edges. This time, he pulled at them and let them go; first, Hareraiser hopped out of the floor and leaned on Sora's side, then a Thornbote, and an Axe Flapper, and a Monotrucker, before Vanitas slid open the shoji screen with his free hand, beckoning Flood, snoozing on a pillow next to his own, to wake and join them.

Flood bounded up, nudging Sora in the face. Sora's crease on his forehead evened out a little, as Vanitas slowly extracted his hand. "Do you want to combine our rooms?"

Sora nodded a little, and reached out with the now-empty hand to smooth the rough fur on Hareraiser's head.

Vanitas slid the shoji separating their spaces completely open, and pulled his pillow and futon closer to Sora, but out of wing range.

"Sora, we're not going anywhere. Go to sleep." Vanitas scooped up the two coins that had rolled next to him, placing the five yen coins back over Sora's closed eyelids before rolling under his own comforter to do the same.

* * *

Joshua cracked his neck, and shifted a little. "Lean forward a bit more and separate your shoulders, Gabe."

"Mhmmm," she replied, angled at the kitchen table downstairs, a metalworking kit in front of her as she designed a more useful way to hold the charged-up coins. "Hey, Josh, can you downtune your vibe to the Realground completely? I need a tester and I'm not waking the mortals."

Joshua frowned, as he picked through and preened Gabriel's feathers. "I can't finish if I make myself human."

"Then let me." Neku slumped in a free seat, sitting backwards in the chair and leaning into the chair back, just like both angels were.

"Neku, it's 3AM," Joshua chided. "You're a teenager, you need a full night's rest."

"Can't sleep," Neku said, glaring at Joshua, trying to avoid looking at Gabriel, shirtless with her shoulders in an odd position while Joshua pawed at the air. "And is it too much to ask that you put on a shirt?"

"Awwww… it's not like I've got anything worth hiding," Gabriel said, leaning back. Joshua ducked out of the way of wings Neku couldn't see. She was right, though; her chest was completely bare and flat. Not even like a human male's, she didn't have any blemishes or nipples at all. Just an expanse of even colored skin. "I mean, I could give myself boobs if you wanted the view."

Neku blushed a little. "No thanks."

Gabriel passed him a pair of goggles she was working on. "Try these for fit. There's a strap in the back."

"They're fogging up," Neku said, after a moment, passing them back to Gabriel.

"Needs air vents," she muttered, and went back to work as Joshua adjusted things Neku couldn't see.

"Sorry for putting you on the spot, Joshua," Neku finally said, looking downwards at the table. "And… sorry for punching you."

"Neku, you've got nothing to apologize for. If anything, it's my job. If it's cathartic, keep decking me."

"It… is. But it scares me too. Like I could fly off the handle at anyone else. At my other friends, who aren't…"

"Resilient?"

"**God**."

An uncomfortable silence fell among them, as Joshua continued to clean Gabriel's wings, occasionally plucking a stray loose feather or scratching at an itch.

"I actually had a followup question."

"Yes?"

Neku eyed Gabriel before glaring at Joshua. "For **you**."

"Is it that you don't want her listening, or that you think I won't answer with an audience?"

"I think if Gabriel wanted to hear what was going on, she could, no matter what I asked," Neku said, frowning.

"I assure you, whatever you ask of me isn't going to be affected by having another angel present," Joshua replied, pressing his thumb to a spot in the air, eliciting a yelp from Gabriel.

"Yeesh, talk about me like I'm not even here, why don't'cha," she whined. "Neku, try it now."

Neku snatched up the goggles and saw the two of them as they were to the Underground. Maybe not as they truly were, but a step closer to it.

"It's perfect," Neku said dryly. "You going to manufacture more?"

"The first one's the hardest. I can just copy my work from here," Gabriel said, touching the one on Neku's face and pulling away, revealing a clone. "Though it's not charged, I don't think. Swap 'em?"

Neku did so, frowning. "No wings."

"What I thought, so I'm banking on everyone upstairs sleeping with coins." Gabriel took the duplicate back and handed Neku the original. "I can scram if you want."

"I haven't gotten your secondaries yet, Gabe," Joshua protested.

"Stop stalling and talk to Neku," Gabriel insisted, rolling her shoulders and snapping her wings up high on her back. "You can finish later."

She threw her shirt back on and walked out of the kitchen, as Joshua sighed.

"What were you doing, exactly?"

"Preening. We could telekinetically preen ourselves, but… it's sort of become a bonding thing between us."

"Show me."

"Neku, I can't."

"I'm wearing these stupid goggles."

"You'd be coming into direct contact with my soul. A brush or a quick touch is one thing, but… it could overwhelm you."

"I'm not as uninformed as you think I am, Joshua. Mr. H told me a lot of the back end, too."

Joshua went pale. "He… did?"

Neku nodded. "I did say earlier… I saw what changes you were making. Well, saw and heard. I knew what to look for; reaper uniforms, shops with decals... people in stores suddenly disappearing when they stepped outside. But the actual workings of it came from Mr. H."

Joshua sighed, and removed his shirt. "Just… be careful, and if you get lightheaded, back off."

"What do I do?"

"Brush your fingers through them carefully, and give them a good shake to get out dirt. Gently pull out any feathers that are coming loose, and yank hard and fast to pull out broken ones."

Neku scooted closer and began working on the smallest, softest feathers situated between Joshua's shoulder blades, noting Joshua relax and sigh into the chair back as he started.

"You just wanted me to lower my guard."

Neku mimicked Joshua's tone. "Got it in one."

"So what's up?"

"You told me the what. Not the why."

"Why? You mean why you were my chosen for the Games?"

Neku shook his head, then articulated it out loud. "No. Mr. H filled me in; you two used the city murals as bait to find someone- **me**. Then you shot me so I could participate. What I wanna know is why you wanted to destroy Shibuya."

"Hanekoma told you why I picked you to play the Reaper's game but didn't tell you that?"

"No, he did. I want to hear it in your own words."

"Neku, I wanted to die."

Neku froze, his hand deep in one of Joshua's wings, and he felt the full blast of Joshua's despair. He pulled back quickly, like he'd burned his hand.

"Did that hurt?" Joshua asked, noting the preening had stopped.

"A little," Neku admitted. "But probably not as much as you. What would have happened… if you did end Shibuya? It's a little hard to ignore an entire city vanishing."

"No, the Realground wouldn't have stopped. Just the Underground. And me. The city would have lost its soul without me in it, but the buildings, the living people, they'd still be standing."

Neku put his hands back on Joshua's wing, and quietly went back to his work.

"No 'well that's a relief'?"

"Did you read my mind too?" Neku asked, a hair snarkily.

"Yes."

"Then why ask?"

"I'm just… surprised.. Most people would probably have justified it, saying something like… 'all those dead people were on borrowed time, anyway'. And the reapers back then were jerks by design; the points system meant antagonize, or be on the chopping block yourself."

"They're still people. So are you."

"Yes, Neku. And people also get tired, and lonely, and angry. I only had two people, neither of which I'd call friends. Business partners, at best. I trusted them with my very being, sure, but…"

"It's not the same."

"It's not."

"So what was the point of it all?" Neku yanked hard and pulled out a broken feather, passing it to Joshua to inspect.

"There aren't too many ways to kill a god. Either you shot me, and the Underground would have lived on under your rule or… I killed you and then be able to take my own life when destroying the UG, as per the terms of engagement. Heads, you kill me, tails I die. Likewise, with our fee the same, you shoot me, and our friendship is over, or I shoot you, and it ends all the same."

"Except… I didn't shoot. And you didn't destroy the UG."

Joshua nodded, wings bobbing. "I shot you. And then it hit me, like a ton of bricks."

"What did?"

"I won, but I wasn't ever going to get my fee back. Unless I let the UG survive. And, even then…"

Neku and Joshua fell back into silence, a little more comfortable than the one before it.

Joshua sighed, and inhaled, not that he actually needed to do those things. "Neku, you know the two things every angel is?"

"An asshole and self-absorbed?"

Joshua groaned. "Wouldn't have used those terms… but yes. I was going to say spiteful and possessive."

"So, how does that tie into all this?"

"Neku… when I shot you, there was one thing I realized. I'd gotten my very first friend- you- and I was about to have that taken from me. An angel choosing to throw something away is normal, but if something- or in this instance someone- is taken…"

Joshua stopped, dropping his head, almost guilty to finish.

Neku broke out laughing hysterically.

"You… you toyed with me for three weeks, just for assisted suicide… and at the end of it all, you back down… you back down… out of sheer spite that winning or losing… **our friendship was taken from you**?"

Neku flopped forward, cackling, straight into one of Joshua's wings, the sound muffled by the feathers. "I'm friends with a centuries old kindergartener."


	22. wierdmageddon pt 1

"The twins! Where are the twins!" Mickey practically burst through the screen door that connected the kitchen to the outdoors.

"Which set?" Lea asked in a panic as he heard someone lumbering down the stars at speed. Kairi ran into the kitchen, haggard and panicked.

"Either?" Mickey asked, flicking his fingers and drawing his Keyblade. "We have'ta help. I'm worried 'bout the kids, and I wanna help Ford."

"The old coot in the trench?" Lea asked, to Mickey's raised brow.

"You'd change your tune when you see him fight."

"Remember the first time I kicked your ass, Lea?" Kairi said with a bit of a grin. "Yeah, I thought…"

"IT'S THE FUCKING APOCALY-" Stan screamed, running indoors as a goat chased him on the property. He panted, saw the three outsiders as he slammed the screen door behind him. "Where are the kids?!"

"Mabel… ran our after Dipper…" Kairi said quietly. "She was heading towards the woods. And then… that triangle showed up. That's Bill Cipher, I'm assuming?"

Stan said nothing, and just started clicking every lock on the kitchen door.

"You're not gonna go after your niece 'n nephew? Your brother?" Mickey asked, watching, as he dismissed his Keyblade.

"Look. I love my family, I do. But going outside against… that thing… is suicide. I'm an old man, Mickey. I don't have any of your fancy-ass magic, no giant weapons, and I ain't even that smart, to boot. I have fists, and a crick in my back. That's about it."

He slumped in the kitchen chair. "Best I can do is hide and pray."

Mickey was about to say something, and by his pained smile, it looked like he was going to be encouraging.

Kairi cut him off at the pass.

"You're right," she said, determined. "You **can't **fight. And there's nothing wrong with that. So how about this? We do, and you hold down the fort. When they make it back- not if, when- someone's gotta be there with a joke and a cup of hot cocoa. Seems more your thing."

Stan looked in shock at Kairi, and let out a choking sound of surprise.

"I was you once, Stan. I spent two years learning how to fight. You don't have that time. So wait. Wait for your family. We'll bring them back."

"You three didn't just flee in your portal thingy?"

Lea laughed. "Like hell we can. The whole area's sealed off. And even if we could… I'm not sure we could leave this place like this. Leave this to us. Call it payment for freeloading and dinner. Light knows I've been doing a lot of that lately."

Stan put his head in his hands. "Just get outta here."

* * *

It was a stampede. Lea, almost instinctively, grabbed Kairi and slung her over a shoulder as the entire forest fled towards the Shack, Ford and Dipper in tow.

At least one set of twins was safe; the other pending.

"But… Mabel!" Dipper screamed, a cold panic in his preteen voice.

"**Bill**. **First**." Ford insisted sharply as the kid was slung over Ford's shoulder in the same way Lea was carrying Kairi. With a red-flushed face, Lea slowly let her down, the stampede of panicked animals passed.

Ford turned back to the three. "You're **still here**?!"

"Missed the boat by a minute, stayed for the fireworks," Lea replied sheepishly. "Looks like we're totally sealed in. Think even time stopped here."

Ford looked down at his wrist. "Watch is still running just fine."

"Not my phone. It's designed to automatically adjust to local time, given the amount of travel we do, and…"

Lea held up his phone, showing the stopped clock. Kairi, ever the smart one, quickly shot off a text message to their group chat. Lea and Mickey's phones buzzed, but the message bounced from everyone else.

"We can still communicate with everybody here, at least," Mickey noted, shoving it back in his pocket. "Now we just need to kick that ruffian back where he came from, right?"

Ford nodded. "I'm guessing that means you're going to help? How much karma do I owe you at this point?"

"Awww, it's nothin', Ford. Glad to help a friend in need."

Ford looked up at the sky and snorted. "Some friend I am."

* * *

They hear a scream. It's not just normal animals running out of the forest now, but more mythical ones- Lea spotted a creature he'd seen once near Thebes- a Minotaur?- a hoard of smaller stubby men that must have been dwarves or gnomes- he was never any good at sorting the two, no matter how much he memorized- and even a blasted unicorn.

"Run!" one of the dwarf-slash-gnomes screamed as they scurried away from a giant pink tidal wave of magic Lea had never seen before. He panicked. They weren't too far from the Shack now, but Dipper had been hurt, scraped knees with a bit of blood. Ford had already picked up Dipper and slung him on a shoulder, and Lea feverishly looked to Kairi, who instantly understood and jumped piggy-back on him.

With one hand, Lea grabbed Mickey by the collar and Ford by the wrist, and drew on the infinite mana around him.

The world went dark, just as pink flashed in his vision.

* * *

"That was… that was so stupid…" Kairi huffed, flat against the splintered wood patio of the Shack. Lea's runes were holding, for now at least, and the wave of pink washed up and around the building and grounds as if it didn't exist. Around the edge of the runic wards, however, the world had warped to something alien, even by Lea's standards. Trees screamed- and not metaphorically, while the goat that had been giving Stan a hard time earlier was towering just outside the makeshift bubble protecting the edifice. Lea shuddered to think what the rest of the town turned into.

Stan fled from the house to Gods-knew-where at the sight of the gargantuan goat prowling on the property, moving too fast for Lea or anyone else to be able to yell for him to return- and Lea was still drained for dragging four people with him through a corridor he opened on a whim without preparation.

Get one twin back, lose the other.

Lea gave himself just a moment to breathe before flinging himself up to a sitting position, eyeing the dark corridor he'd made, and closing it with a wave of his fingertips. His wild guess was right- he couldn't make any outbound, but corridors **within **the sphere of Cipher's influence worked just fine. It was a risky gamble, but…

"Sorry about that, but I didn't think we'd make it back in time. I need to look at you two," he said sternly, gesturing to Dipper and Ford. "We have magic vestments that protect us in those dark corridors. You **don't**. The jump was very small, but it **was **still a jump."

Kairi helped the dazed Dipper sit upright, and Lea gently held open his eyelids. "Ugh, kids get over saturated way too easily. Kairi, Mickey. Light Magic's your thing. Can you purge him?"

Kairi nodded, and cast something soft and light. Lea squinted. Just because he was on the side of Light didn't mean that was the source of his own magic. It didn't hurt him, not like it used to, but it stung a little. Roxas being a Nobody who specialized in light magic had already gotten him accustomed to it, even back as a Nobody himself.

A shadow wisped up out of Dipper's eyes and he choked a little. "No more teleporting for you," Lea chided, as the kid's vision cleared. "You're walking." Lea heard and saw the green sparks of more neutral Cure magic as Kairi patched up Dipper's physical wounds, while he turned his attention to Ford.

"And you're fine," Lea said, nodding, as he checked Ford's own eyes. Indeed, Ford was burning off the tiny bit of dark shadow on his own- either that, or absorbing it; Lea wasn't sure which. But this man clearly dealt with capital-D Darkness before.

"I can cure too, if you've got anything needing fixing," Lea offered.

Ford just shook his head and shrugged. "We don't have time, and I'm about as fine as I can be. Let's go kill a demon."

* * *

Lea looped arms with Kairi and Mickey. He hadn't been downtown yet, but he could keep making cooridoors to the furthest point he could see until he got there. It was faster, and given the current ambulatory trees and roving monsters, safer than walking.

"Meet you there," he said, sternly to the Pines as he opened the first corridor, ripping the exit out as far as he could see down the road. He wasn't actually worried about the number of jumps he'd likely need; the air was growing thicker with dark magic every passing moment and it felt like an electric shock straight down his core. His ears tingled with tiny sparks of mana as he surged through the first corridor, immediately opening a second on exit to as far as he could see.

Kairi and Mickey panted hard, running alongside. They were protected but that didn't mean they were unaffected by the encroaching darkness.

"Let me know if you need a break," he hissed, as they jumped through another tunnel.

"You're the one doin' all the work, Lea," Mickey huffed out. "We can't be complainin'."

"Bah. This ain't work. I'm running on seven cups of Ford's coffee, this world's mana, and an adrenaline high. In that order."

Lea pulled them behind a building downtown, hugging them close.

"Fffff…" he started, looking at the eye-bats flapping around. Three of them descended on him.

They **were **Heartless.

He saw another screech, and look directly at a random woman running down the street. She turned to stone, freezing in place mid scream. Cipher, the giant pyramid he was, scooped up the statue and flicked it with his thumb and middle finger into an even larger pyramid floating in the sky. It careened overhead and disappeared from sight into its opening.

Lea frowned, trying to remember how Esuna worked again.

But for now, there were the three bats in front of him, and yet they were hesitating.

Maybe all the darkness he'd absorbed made him register as one of them?

"Back off," Lea said sharply at them. "These humans are mine."

One of the bats screamed in agitation. Fifteen more turned their heads. Lea sucked in a deep breath and held his ground, just as a bell tower rung loudly, thankfully distracting Bill Cipher overhead.

"I said," Lea repeated, pulling himself upright and glaring sharply at the bats. "These humans. Are mine. If you turn them to stone how am I supposed to eat them? Huh? I like my meals crisp but that's just a bit much."

Lea smiled- the kind devoid of happiness. He took a sharp step forward opening his arms wide. "Leave us alone or I might put you on the menu instead."

A bar came down to face him. For a moment, Lea considered drawing his Keyblade, but that would only agitate them more. There were way too many, and fighting them would be a quick way to get the monster-demon's attention.

No, Lea pulled strings he hadn't in months, ones he wasn't even sure he could still pull. But if there were Heartless here, that also meant there might be…

A few **thworp **sounds rolled behind Lea, and he spared a momentary glance back.

About ten Assassin Nobodies responded to his beck and call.

* * *

The bats scurried off, to terrorize others, and Lea slumped against the wall. Most of the Nobodies he'd summoned had dispersed with the Heartless, but two remained, one running too-long fingers through his hair as he was still their once and only king.

"Sorry," Lea choked out to Mickey and Kairi. "That was…"

"Brilliant." Mickey beamed, looking at the Nobodies jittering, waiting on a command to serve their master. "Didn't realize ya still have control over 'em."

"I… **don't**. Not since being a Somebody again," Lea admitted. "I was totally bluffing. But… with the amount of darkness here, I wondered if I could still call them, and here we are." Lea rolled his eyes, gently pushing the handsy Nobody out of the way. "You two morons. Dismissed. I'll call you if I actually need you," Lea muttered at them, and in a flash, they were gone.

And then…

Cipher started laughing.

* * *

It was impossible not to hear the shrieking demon. He pointed at Ford- crushed partially under rubble that Lea felt a lump in his throat about for not stopping happen (whatever it was- as he wasn't paying attention, making the feeling sink further), and suddenly, their generous host was a statue of pure gold.

"Fuck," Lea whispered. He knew how to cure petrification… but **gold**? That was new. He prayed to whatever deities there were- hell, the angel watching over Sora would do- that Mickey knew some spell that might cure it. Bill then used telekinesis to rip not one of the journals Lea and Kairi had seen Dipper writing in the first night they'd visited, but three of them out of Dipper's grasp and burn them all to a crisp, leaving Dipper with nothing but a single page in his hand. Bill laughed hysterically, his voice giving Lea a headacxhe with its shrillness, summoned up a flying car to go back to the large pyramid floating above the middle of the town.

Two creatures- not heartless, and probably Bill's own direct underlings, one a gremlin with sickly green skin and the other a **living set of teeth**\- began chasing after a panicked Dipper as another tidal wave of pink began to roll across the town.

Lea grabbed his friends by the collar and summoned a corridor straight back for the Shack- the only safe haven in the entire blasted town.

"Salvation!"

At the last moment, Lea recoiled from the burning feeling of a powerful Light magic attack, opening his palm as he slid through the corridor.

Only he and Mickey made it to the other side.

* * *

"Lea, I think if she did that t'ya, she did it to chase after Dipper."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Lea replied dryly, looking at the burn mark on his palm. Kairi's magic still etched on it. "That stings like hell."

"Will Cure work?"

"No, I just have to let it fade off. Hang on."

Lea flicked a finger, and two Assassins appeared before him. "Find Kairi- she's the one who was with me and practically seeping out Light. Follow her orders as if she were me. Only bring her back if she's in true mortal peril and there's no other option." The assassins bowed, their long arms practically dragging on the ground as they did so, cutting the dirt with their forearm blades, before disappearing again.

"You're not gonna chase her yourself?"

"She shot me with light magic to stay with the kid! No, come with me inside where it's safer. We're going to go back to square one, and come up with a plan to murder that demon."

* * *

Kairi ate dirt, before breaking into a run to chase after the two monsters and Dipper. She pushed off the air with Flowmotion along the treeline, drawing her Keyblade. Dipper was screaming, and low on stamina, by the sound of his panting and uneven run, and Kairi screeched. The goblin-looking one turned around from the sound, and Kairi took the opportunity to come crashing down on its head in a flurry of rage and sleep deprivation.

"Do. Not. Lay. A. Hand. On. Him," she screamed, punctuating each word for emphasis as she bashed the thing with every ounce of her strength.

The living pair of teeth chittered in fear of her, and scurried off.

Kairi's anger sated, she slowly peeled off the creature she was fighting, and dismissed her Keyblade with a huff. "Dipper, you're not hurt are you?"

"Physically or emotionally?" he asked dryly, still clutching the page of his notebook, watching as Bill's minion scurried off, away from the crazed teenage woman who fought with brutal flowers.

"Let's talk one at a time," she offered brightly, holding out a hand.

* * *

Lea pinched the bridge of his nose.

So this was where the forest's mythical creatures had gone. All that was left, at least. Into the Pines's shack, spared from the waves of wild magic spawned by Cipher.

All thanks to Lea's sigils and some unicorn hair.

Stan was back, and lounging in his recliner. Mickey relaxed a little. At least **someone **was safe. Not that he had any idea how to break the news to him that his twin had been turned to gold and chucked up into Bill's giant floating pyramid.

Mickey, honestly knew he wasn't always the best with words. He was a jump in the fire first, figure out how to use an extinguisher later kind of person. The day- as it were in a word outside of time- was starting to wear on him anyway. Mickey sighed.

"Let's make sure all these refugees are comfortable, 'n turn in. I can't think this exhausted, and it's not like we can do anything else."

Lea nodded. "I'll go see if I can cook anything. At the very least, hot tea and cocoa."

* * *

"All better?"

"Enough…" Dipper looked over his arms and legs, his skin clear and bruises and scabs mysteriously vanished.

"We should keep moving. Those monsters might come back with reinforcements."

"I… don't think I can. I'm beat."

Kairi looked down at Dipper. "Yeah. I guess we should find somewhere safe to rest for the night… or well, until we're better."

This got a mild chuckle from Dipper. "Yeah. Night."

"Why don't we sleep in shifts? You first. If we have to move, I can carry you."

"You… can't magic up food, can you, Kairi?"

"Food? No. But I can magic us some drinkable water," Kairi said, pulling some branches together to begin building them a crude lean-to. She heard a **vworp **sound and panicked a moment, before seeing two Nobodies lumber in their direction.

"Stay back I have a…" Dipper shouted, far more confidently then he actually was. Kairi stopped him.

"They're Lea's."

"Those… monsters?" Dipper asked, dropping the meager twig he was brandishing.

"Yes, they're Nobodies."

"That's what… that's what Lea called himself, too, didn't he?" Dipper asked, worriedly, as one approached closer. Kairi held out a hand and both of them bowed deeply at her.

"Mhmm. Remember, he said he was a demon once, too?"

"Did he look like these things?"

Kairi shook her head no. "Oh, he looked human, all right. That's what made him scarier. These are called Assassins. They're very powerful, and invulnerable, unless you can parry an offensive attack in time to get a hit in. Looks like he sent us a guard, but didn't come to drag me back himself."

"Why not?"

"Because he trusts me. To do the right thing. Also, our phones still work, at least with each other; I know if I really needed the help, he'd come."

Kairi pulled out her phone, and sure enough, Lea had sent her a short text.

SENT YOU SOME FRIENDS. GET THE KID AND DO WHAT YOU NEED TO. WE'LL HOLD DOWN THE FORT HERE AND FIGURE OUT A WAY TO KNOCK CIPHER INTO NEXT MILLENIUM.

THX LEA, THEYRE HERE, she texted back quickly, both to let him know the text and bodyguards were received.

"I wish Mabel trusted me more," Dipper sighed, kicking a fallen log and getting a stubbed toe for his trouble.

"I was wondering what you were doing. Finding your sister?"

Dipper just nodded silently, watching the two guardians jitter.

"Dipper, let's both get some rest. I'll help you figure out what happened to Mabel, I promise. We can ask them to guard us while we both sleep."

"They'd do that?"

"They're not independent. They follow their master's orders. Which… if Lea sent them to me, means its me. Hey, knuckleheads," she said, addressing the Nobodies. "One of you find us some food we humans can eat. Raw if you have to. The other one stays and guards."

The Nobodies nodded to each other, and one vanished through a corridor.

"See?" Kairi said, putting a gentle hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Now… tell me exactly what happened."

* * *

"This place is a mess."

"Still missing the castle's white walls, are we?"

"Hardly. Cell signal?"

"I'll send out a test message… and, sent. Looks like it failed to everyone but Lea, Kairi, and Mickey though… that's an improvement."

"Having two arms is an improvement," Vexen hissed, sullenly.

"**Gentlemen**." Naminé tapped her foot on the wooden floorboards, with her finger to her lips. "Quiet. People are sleeping."

Sure enough, the cramped room with two beds they'd found themselves in was filled with small men, curled up asleep.

"**Dwarves**?" Isa asked, grateful to be human again, rolling his neck as he looked around.

"Gnomes," one hissed, irritated, before rolling onto another.

"Would you know of someone named Lea or Mickey or Kairi?" Isa asked.

"No, but the place is crammed with people I'unno," the gnome replied, annoyed. "Check downstairs."

Isa shrugged and followed the gnome's advice, sidestepping a minotaur and a unicorn curled up sleeping on one another in the living room. Lea was sprawled out on the floor, snoring loud enough to wake someone the next planet over.

Gently, Isa nudged him with a foot.

Lea screamed, shot upright, and summoned his Keyblade all in one panicked, yet fluid, motion.

"Lea!" Isa cried, waking the unicorn with a high pitched annoyance of a whinny. Isa grimaced. He remembered the time Lea- well, Axel- came back from a tussle with one of the equine hellbeasts and didn't want a repeat offense.

"I… Isa?" Lea asked, groggily, dismissing the blade and rubbing the crust from his eyes. "H-how? How did you get in here?"

"Through the portal?" Isa asked annoyed. "What are you doing in a fairy halfway house?"

Lea put up a finger in protest before lowering it. "Fairy **refugee camp**," he corrected simply, getting to his feet. "Day… three… of this hellscape, I think? It's hard to tell when time stopped." Lea froze, as Isa's words finally sunk in his sleep-deprived brain. "Wait… what do you mean 'through the portal?'"

Isa stared at him. "The portal. In the upstairs room, the one I might assume you came through?"

"It still exists?" Lea asked incredulously.

"You're in this building and **you didn't check**?" Isa shot back in an irate stage whisper. "What is wrong with you?"

Lea inhaled, grabbed Isa's arm, and dragged him to the window. "That's what's wrong with me."

"Holy…" Isa whispered, as Naminé and Vexen slowly tiptoed behind to look out at the crashing waves of unstable magic outside. "Sora… isn't **here **is he?"

Lea nodded sullenly. "He is. Just… not inside this time-stopped magic bubble. He and Riku both. And, incidentally, the Land of Departure brats too. All three of our groups are on the same planet, this place is just so massive we were dumped on different parts of it. I'd managed to figure out how to tunnel over to Sora's location but then…"

Vexen nodded. "All hell broke loose. Wait… Sora is on this planet? You're perfectly sure?"

"Yep, we figured it out, thanks to Kairi. I can fill you in on-"

"No time," Vexen insisted. "Or, maybe all the time, given the state this place is in. I need to head back. Isa, Naminé, you probably want to stay here, don't you?"

"You just got here!' Lea cried at him. "What the hell are you going to do?"

"First, ask Sulley if they can spare you all anything to toss in here. Blankets, food, this place needs what it can get. But…"

"But?"

"You said three days, right?"

"We've been here two real days, and… what I can assume from my messed up biological clock maybe two to four more," Lea said. "It's hard to say. I don't even know if time is moving outside this town or if we're stuck alone in here."

"Well, I'm going to tunnel straight to Traverse Town once I step back out. It may be a day in here, but I'll be back, so please wait."

"But why?"

Vexen grinned, a sly toothless one he once reserved for Zexion when he was about to reveal just how smart he was to the boy.

"**Reinforcements**."


	23. one down, four to go

"And… well, this is the main shopping arcade…" Artemis said, trailing off, almost embarrassed.

"What's wrong, Artemis?" Aqua asked, jogging slightly to keep up with his pace.

"Er, well, I am typically only below ground when there's a crisis. Considering you took care of it so efficiently, I feel I am at a loss of what to do."

"Well, what do you do for fun, Artemis?" Ventus asked, pleased as punch to fly along at Butler's eye level.

Butler likened his presence to a very clingy fly. A friendly one, yes, but one with attachment issues all the same.

"Fun?" Artemis chucked quietly. "Let me see… destabilize criminal empires, invent world changing technology, possibly pick up a millennia-old language on a Tuesday afternoon. Compose a symphony. Occasionally ghost-write trashy romance novels just to see what can get away with being published. What is your version of entertainment, then?"

Aqua, Terra, and Ventus looked at each other, in shock.

"Well…" Ventus started, before trailing off. "I guess we haven't done anything… **fun**… in years. I had moments of consciousness over the last ten, woke up, had to fight, and then we were burying bodies and clearing the aftermath… Aqua and Terra had it worse."

Butler placed a massive hand on Artemis's shoulder. "You could stand to act your age for once, yeah?"

Artemis's brow wrinkled. "**Ohhhhh **no. No, you don't."

"Then for our guests. Come on, I know exactly where we're headed."

* * *

"I feel stupid."

"Come on, you look cute," Xion said, squatting to tussle the fake fur that was Roxas's current hair.

"I don't -**do**\- cute," Roxas pouted, and Xion giggled. If he didn't do cute before he certainly was now. Roxas wore all white, with grey accents and a Nobody symbol printed on the back of his child-sized costume. He fidgeted, annoyed, as Xion tied on a flat fascinator that looked like the Samurai heads.

"You'll do great. Come on, if there's ever issues in this world someone besides you can take care of it. You never have to come back if you're too embarrassed."

"I can't even swing my keyblades without help here," Roxas whined. "How am I supposed to protect this place?"

"Well, just be really, really distracting."

Roxas looked down, glad felt wasn't able to blush.

"Come on, we're rooting for you. You're a lot funnier than you give yourself credit." Xion pulled Roxas in a tight hug and left him a peck on the forehead as she stood up. "You're the second act. Get ready to have to fight once you're done."

Roxas gingerly touched his forehead in the spot Xion had kissed once she'd left the room.

* * *

Tomo didn't know what time it was when he was compelled to stare at the ceiling; he didn't have his own phone like Sora or Riku did.

He didn't have much of anything like Riku did. He was the afterimage, the second try. He reached out with a hand to try and call his Keyblade… to nothing. Not even his sword answered him.

A squeak did.

Tomo slid the screen out to the hallway created by the partitioned rooms to see Flood squawking at him. He smiled a little. Vanitas, even in slumber, was calling out, whiny and demanding.

Tomo couldn't complain. Whatever issues he had… Vanitas had ten times worse, didn't he? In the scale of things, his imposter syndrome wasn't even worth talking ab-

Flood jumped and shoved its face in Tomo's. What a demanding little emotion it was. Tomo wrapped his arms around it, and gently stroked its fur. He heard an annoyed whine- not from Flood this time.

"Who the fuck is- Flood, where the fuck did you run off to?" Vanitas growled low.

"He came to visit," Tomo replied quietly, through the screen. Riku was on his right and Vanitas his left, so he tried to keep his voice low to prevent waking the entire second floor.

"Oh," Vanitas replied, calmer. "Tomo?"

Tomo turned red. Vanitas didn't ask which one of them had spoken- Riku or himself. Maybe it was the proximity, or something else that tiopped off Vanitas, or possibly pure luck, but Tomo clutched his heart all the same.

Vanitas had thought of **him**first.

"Y-yeah," Tomo stuttered out after an awkward pause. "I've got Flood. Want him back?"

"Nah," Vanitas said sleepily, yawning out, "its nice. Just was surprised."

"So you actually admit it," Tomo said lightly, lifting Flood's head a little for chin scratches.

"Mhmmmm," Vanitas drawled. "I'm not gonna argue with you. Too damn tired."

Tomo heard a light thud, and almost immediately the sound of snoring afterwards. Flood, too, had fallen asleep in Tomo's arms, going boneless under Tomo's slow strokes along his back.

Gently, Tomo deposited Flood on the tatami next to his pillow, sat up and stretched, before frowning. He hadn't taken a bath today, had he? Might as well wash up while he was awake; the hot water might lull him back to sleep. He slid the screen separating his space to the 'hallway', and rummaged through the closet for fresh clothing and a towel, padding to the larger bath at the end of the room. He slid open that door as quietly as possible, closing it behind him and putting his fresh clothes and towel on a shelf before noticing it already contained garments.

"Ack!" he vocalized, as he realized what that meant. He heard a splashing sound behind him. "I'll… I'll use a different one."

"If you want to, go ahead, but I'm not forcing you to leave."

Joshua.

"Don't you sleep?" Tomo asked, relaxing a little as he took off his clothes to spray down.

"About an hour or two a night, yes. That's all I need. I can go a few days without if I sleep more afterwards."

Tomo heard a second splash, and saw a shock of red out of the corner of his eye.

"U-uriel!" he cried, trying to find something to cover himself with.

Uriel whipped her hair, until it shortened, and stood up from the bath. Her upper torso was now that of a well-muscled young man. "Would this bother you less?" she-now-he asked, voice changed, too.

"You… didn't need to do that," Tomo admitted, looking down and away.

"Unlike Joshua or Gabriel, I quite literally **do not care**," Uriel admitted, settling back into the water with a flutter of wings. "All I care is that if I'm a woman, I'm the sexiest thing in the room, and when I'm a man, I want to woo all of the ladies. What's the point of being down on this planet if you can't enjoy the finer things?"

"Getting drunk, watching rom-coms, and hitting on anything that moves in a five kilometer radius is **not **the finer things," Joshua replied, snorting.

"At least I don't waste my time running around with human **children**," Uriel huffed.

"Oh? So how was hanging out with Shiki and Rhyme?" Joshua asked, mildly affronted.

Uriel sank back in the water, defeated.

Tomo snorted, and went back to getting the city grime off under the spray tap.

"Last I checked, given how old we are, pretty much any human's a kid. Right, Tomo? How old are you exactly?"

"How… are we counting?" Tomo asked, caught off guard by being included in the conversation.

"**You**. How many years ago were you born? None of this 'from Riku' business. If anything, that makes him your dad, right?"

"Um… I'm about… three?" Tomo asked, thinking aloud. "Though I only…"

"When's your birthday, Tomo? You did come into the world at **some **point, didn't you?"

"I guess that's true," Tomo admitted. "Though I don't know when it was. I never bothered to ask the date."

"So… how about this? The day you're brought back to life is going to be your birthday. And I know exactly when that is. **Thursday**. We're going to get Coco kicked out of Shinjuku, void Riku from that game, and bring you all back to life."

"Well, it's four in the morning…" Tomo said, spying a clock hanging on the far wall. "And… today is Wednesday the 26th."

"So your birthday is August 27th. You'll be four tomorrow evening," Joshua insisted, turning to Uriel. "So, hey, Uri. Not only are you friends with kids now, you're friends with toddlers, too! It's pretty great, right?"

* * *

Tomo relaxed in the hot water, in near silence with the two angels. It was comforting, just being present.

The peace was broken by a fanfare of noisy brass instruments.

"Ughhhhh," Joshua groaned, vaulting out of the tub and fluttering over to his pile of clothes near the door.

"Joshua speaking," he said, simply, into the phone. "Hm? Oh- oh dear. Yes, I'll be there as fast as I can. Ice it if it's not spasming too badly."

Joshua shook himself, his hair dry in an instant.

"House call?" Uriel asked.

"Yeeep," Joshua replied, throwing a button down shirt on over his head. "The girls' dorm by the bus terminal."

"Broken wing?" Tomo asked, suddenly very awake.

"Mhmmm, wanna come help?"

Tomo shrugged. "I'm not going back to sleep at this rate."

Uriel mussed Tomo's hair. "Go. Getting to see Tokyo at sunrise from the air is another amazing thing being down here."

"Oh, so you're not 110% debauchery?" Joshua asked, dripping with sarcasm.

"Only 99%," Uriel replied. "Also it means I get the whole tub to myself, so it's a win-win."

"I knew there was an ulterior motive," Joshua replied, tossing Tomo a towel. "See you at the balcony in five minutes."

* * *

Vexen slammed the emergency call button on the door-frame mechanism, sucking in his breath and checking his phone.

It ticked forward in time, something he didn't have much of. After a few minutes, Mike poked an eyeball in the thick plastic sheeting surrounding the unit, in yellow quarantine gear.

Vexen hunted through his lab coat, his only clothes in this form, with six armholes for his additional appendages, and dropped every munny he had into Mike's hands. His single eye went wide.

"What the- what's this for?" Mike asked.

"Food. Blankets. Potable water," Vexen snapped, rushed. "Long story, but yes, Sora and Riku are on the other side of your door. Please toss in as much as this will buy."

"Ummmm… okay, then," Mike said, a weird half smile. "They okay?"

"Enough," Vexen replied. "Just, please, do this, for us. I'll explain why when we're done. I have to go get help."

"It's… bad, isn't it?" Mike said, humor gone from his voice.

"**Extremely**."

"We'll do what we can," Mike replied, as Vexen created a portal in front of him and disappeared into darkness.

Mike dropped the munny gems on the floor in disbelief. "How many of them **are **there?"

* * *

"An… arcade. Really, Butler?"

"Yes, Artemis. Maybe get out some of that pent up energy you have."

"I can sate that at my workstation, composing, thank you," he grumbled, sullenly, while Ventus flitted forward to grin in the windows.

"They have whack-a… well, they're not Heartless…" Ventus said, excited but trailing off, watching a little elf (or adult pixie, he was still learning the different fairy races) thwack at white creatures with a mallet.

"Trolls," Artemis replied, almost a hint of fear in his voice. "Whack-a-troll. About the only chance to do so, the real thing is incredibly large, violent, and an excellent hunter."

Ventus landed, and wrenched open the door. "What are we waiting for? Come on, we have time to kill anyway."

* * *

"High."

"Yes, Tomo, we **are **a few stories up. Do you want to hold the equipment and I carry you?"

Tomo frowned. "What if I fall?"

"This is my city, Tomo. I won't let it happen."

"But what if-"

"I turn the pavement below you into a trampoline, or I use my telekinesis to catch you, or I dive really fast. Doesn't matter. It's my city, and if I don't want you to fall, **you won't**."

"That's…" Tomo started. "Then why did Sora break his wing? Or this girl we're going to help?"

"Have you ever tried to listen to a symphony orchestra?"

Tomo shook his head no.

"Oooookay, bad example. Here. Look down. It's 4:30 AM but it's Shibuya. There's people down there. Here, hold this."

Joshua passed Tomo the bag with a wing splint, and hooked his arms under Tomo, lifting both of them off the balcony and diving down to the streets below.

Tomo screamed a moment, before relaxing a hair. Joshua wasn't going to just drop him. He hoped.

"Okay, start flapping, I'm going to let go regardless."

Well, there went that idea.

Quickly, Tomo spread out his wings, and Joshua let go, flapping gently to tread air.

Tomo expected the feeling of a drop, but it never came. He was bobbing in the breeze- a lot easier than he expected.

"Only give one deep flap when you feel like you're about to sink," Joshua admonished. "And don't twist, just push down. That's a quick way to ruin your wing."

Tomo followed his lead, and was soon treading the air gently without much thought.

"Good. Now, listen below us, what do you hear?"

"People talking, cars, noise," Tomo admitted, looking at the tableau of ants below him.

"Right. Now, can you hear what all these people are saying at the same time?"

"No. Nobody could do that."

"I can, but it takes a huge amount of effort. Now… that girl there. On her phone. Focus just on her. Can you pick out her conversation now?"

Tomo followed her with his eyes, and strained to listen in. Just as he was focusing and starting to hear her over the cacophony of the city…

"Boo!" Joshua shouted in his ear, and Tomo plummeted to earth, before freezing in the air.

"What… why?" Tomo cried, as he struggled against invisible bonds, trying to flap free. Slowly, Joshua loosened his telekinetic hold on Tomo and he fluttered back up to be by Joshua's side, dazed.

"**That's**how Sora's wing got hurt in my city. I'm not omnipresent. If I'm focused on something else," he offered, pointing to the woman on her cell phone, amplifying her voice until she was the only thing audible, "well, things slip through. And I can't listen to all of Shibuya at once **all **the time without getting a headache. But if someone brings something to my attention, like Seven last night, well… come on, we have a friend in need."

Joshua snapped his hand away and the volume levels of the city below returned to normal. He grinned, a glint in his eye, and dove for the pavement.

Tomo clutched at his bag tightly, and pulled his wings inward, letting physics do their work, plummeting to Earth.

On purpose, this time.

* * *

Vexen inhaled deeply, and pushed open the door to the abandoned mansion in Traverse Town, stepping through the portal alone.

He was immediately entangled in a sooty off-white sheet.

"Ack!" he cried, annoyed, batting it away.

Someone from the other side pulled the fabric back a little, staring at him. "'It strange for'ya t' be hangin' out wi' someone of our class, dontcha 'ink?"

The young man wore patched up clothing, covered in soot, and grinning. By the sheet entangled in Vexen's aristocratic hat an the man right there, this must have been Mary's way of covering up the portal- make it unsavory enough for nobody to want to go near.

"I… you're not one of Master Mary's friends are you?" Vexen asked, taken aback by the dirty, sweaty teenager missing three teeth an inch from his face.

"'Aster 'Ary, eh? 'At's a new 'un. Friend of 'Ary Poppins is a friend a'mine though. You must'a be one of the magic creatures she was sayin' might come through here. Was almost expectin' a penguin or summmat tho. Not some well-t'-do."

Vexen frowned a little, concerned his magic translator was failing him. When he did eventually run back into Donald or Aqua he'd request a booster. He smiled awkwardly and stretched out his hands. "If you wouldn't mind bringing me to her, or the other way around, I would appreciate. I'm… er, running on a very tight schedule."

"'Ight you 're, sir," the kid grinned.

"Er, wait," Vexen added, almost pained, looking at the kid who could hardly be older than Ienzo. "Your teeth, um, sir. That has to be painful."

"Eh, fell off a roof 'en I was 'even," the teen shrugged. "'Ost 'a us sweeps missin' somethink."

"Would… you like me to fix them?"

"'An't 'ardly afford gold, sir. Or 'orse, 'ear 'at's wot 'ey're usin' these days."

"Remember what you asked me? If I was a magical creature?" Vexen asked, brow raised. "Consider it thanks for guarding."

"Really, sir?" the kid asked, grinning wide.

Vexen lifted his hand, glowing sharp green, muttering, "Let my knowledge of human anatomy be for healing people, for once."

The kid's mouth sparked a moment, and he clicked his tongue. "You… wow, sir!" he cried, wide eyed, showing off his repaired smile. "Stay put, Imma run fast as I can, sir!"

* * *

Mary stormed up to Vexen and immediately boxed his ear, face stern.

"Ow, owowowowowow, Master Mary, what's brought on this wrath?" Vexen cried.

"Harold, a million thanks for posting guard. A shilling for your trouble," Mary said, still twisting Vexen's ear in one hand as she dropped a coin in the teen's hand in another. "Off you trot, then."

When Harold was out of earshot, Mary let go.

"You broke order," Mary hissed irritably at him.

"It was the least I could do," Vexen muttered, fixing his clothes and staring the woman down. "He **kept** order by guarding that portal. Who knows what would happen if inhabitants here poured through?"

"I can't save them all, Vexen. I learned that long ago. If I Cure one chimney sweep's black lung, I'd be curing them all until my magic runs out. There's little of it left in this world. People have lost their imaginations in this dreary place. I… I have almost run dry."

Mary nodded out sadly at the grey, smoky city. "There's no love on the assembly lines."

Vexen offered his hand.

"Then come home, Mary. Or… at the very least, I'm begging your aid. We've found our lost friends, but they're in dire need of help."

"They didn't end up here?" Mary asked, curiously, twisting her umbrella- her **keyblade**\- tight enough enough in her hands to leave marks if she weren't wearing gloves.

"They did not. Can you handle one jump with me through the darkness or…?"

"I have Keyblade armor, I will be just fine around your darkness, Sir Nobody."

Vexen sighed in relief.

Mary took one last glance back at the city she'd called home for far too long, raised her head with a determined scowl on her face, and strode through the miasma back to her own universe.

Vexen tipped his hat, and followed.

* * *

"Sh-sh-sh," Joshua cooed, sifting cross legged on the floor next to a whimpering Reaper girl, sobbing on the floor, one wing bent at an unnatural angle.

"Hello," he said quietly, rubbing her back in a slow circle. "I want you to breathe. I'm going to fix this, okay?"

The girl's whimpers died down a little as she nodded.

"I want at least fourth-eight hours of rest. I'll tell your lieutenant you're excused from duty, okay?" Joshua smiled softly. It was odd, seeing a man who was a shapeshifting god be so gentle.

Almost like he was **atoning **for something, Tomo realized with a start. Because it was how Tomo felt, too, when interacting with Sora.

Apologizing for things Riku had done.

"Tomo, can you come here and put her under a mesmer? I can truss up her wings and heal them."

"What- I-"

"All the dead can," Joshua said, squinting at him. "Even players, though it's more a mental nudge than full on possession. Come on, you've got magic in spades. It's that or call in her lieutenant, and that'll just take more time. And we already wasted enough getting here, didn't we?"

Tomo glowered. Joshua had already wasted enough time on **his **little flying stunt. There was no doubt in Tomo's mind that he was being guilt tripped into this.

Tomo sighed. "What's your name?" he asked the girl.

She squealed in reply, unable to say a coherent word.

"Its Nana," Joshua provided. "Shes a shopkeeper."

"Well, Nana," Tomo started. How did Joshua do that mind-control trick again. "I want you to relax? Okay? We're here, and we're going to get you fixed up. Please breathe slowly, in through your nose, out the mouth. Follow my breathing okay?"

Tomo remembered Joshua had snapped his fingers at Sora to get him to focus on him and did the same. Nana's eyes began to dilate.

"Good, good," Tomo said, feeling his whole body shake as he spoke as a legion.

That wasn't disconcerting at all.

"Focus on me, and breathe, okay? I promise, you're not in any pain right now. Right? No pain."

"No… pain," she agreed, hollow, before wincing, her eyes snapping almost back to normal.

"Breathe, Nana," Tomo insisted, watching as Joshua and another girl reaper in a nightgown hold Nana's broken wing in place to set it.

"Breathe," she repeated, eyes dreamy again.

"Your friends are just touching your back," Tomo insisted, surprised his spell was working anywhere near as well as it was. "Wherever they touch, that muscle will relax. Got it?"

"Mhmmmmmmm…" she muttered. "It's nice."

"Right?" Tomo agreed. "They're helping make it all better."

"Mhm," Joshua cut in. "I'm done. Let her go slowly."

"Okay, Nana, I want you to lay down on your side and go back to sleep, okay? Can you do that?"

Nana collapsed, snoring instantly, and Joshua facepalmed.

"I said **slowly**," he muttered, picking her up and depositing her gently on a futon. "I'm just glad the splint didn't shift."

Tomo went red.

"Are… you a new lieutenant?" zone of the girls asked him, the rest of the group looking on and giggling. "You have funky hair and your psych is way powerful."

"Uh… no…" Tomo replied, more embarrassed. "I… just… Joshua, you said this was normal magic!"

Joshua wiggled his pointer finger at him. "Sure is, but very few reapers can't mesmer a person to stupor. Not even this city's Conductor can."

"I.. what… were you testing me?!" Tomo asked, storming out of the Reaper dormitory after Joshua.

"Maaaaybe," he admitted with a grin. "While we're out, let's pick up some breakfast."

"Hey! Don't change the topic!"

* * *

Mary sighed, cloaking herself in deep navy armor with a flourish, shaking her umbrella once until it reverted to her lamp-lit keyblade.

"Mana. I've missed it so," she sighed out, raising the weapon at the miasma before her. "London, may you sleep in peace tonight. Farewell."

She twisted her wrist, and a resounding click reverberated around the empty plaza in Traverse Town. The miasma slowly dissipated from the doorway, leaving behind the view of an abandoned house, haphazard sofa and a dog dish near the entryway.

Mary bowed her head slightly and held out an arm. "Shall we, my dark friend? Time waits for no man, after all."


	24. weirdmageddon pt 2

"So how big was this bubble, exactly?" Kairi asked, as she and Dipper were flanked by their two Nobody bodyguards- each roughly holding a wrist and walking in front of them at Kairi's orders. When the flocks of eye-bats passed, Dipper and Kairi were ignored as 'prisoners', freely walking down the abandoned roads and forest trails.

"Ever seen a human hamster ball?" Dipper asked, brow raised.

"No, but I can imagine," Kairi said, giggling a little. "But that means if Cipher stuck her indoors somewhere, it would have to have been big enough to fit. We've been searching how many days now?"

Dipper looked down at his watch- Kairi's phone might have stopped to reflect time in their little bubble of darkness, but machinery did still operate as normal and his plastic watch with a ghost on the face ticked forward just as before.

"Think it's day…three?"

Kairi checked her messages. "Lea said the same thing. He's been watching the analogue clock hanging in the living room and working out a plan to get your uncle-"

"-**Grunkle**-"

"-your Grunkle back from Cipher. Lea, Mickey, and I know anti petrification spells, but gold's out of our element."

Dipper started laughing hysterically. "Chemistry… joke… Gold… element…" he choked out between giggles.

"Was it?" Kairi asked, confused, but still happy Dipper had cracked a smile.

"Right, you're not speaking our language, so it might not have been wordplay to you," he realized, wiping his face of tear streaks with his free hand. "So… we've checked most of the outdoor places… you're saying you don't think she's inside somewhere? Other than…"

Dipper glanced up at the massive floating pyramid in the sky.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Kairi admitted. "But that has to be an absolute last resort. Any other ideas?"

"Oh!" Dipper cried thoughtfully, pointing with his free hand at a large building with an equally large, lopsided one-armed monster guard further down the abandoned highway.

"That looks promising," Kairi said thoughtfully.

"Mabel did always like the mall."

* * *

"Look, Purple, I don't care if you claimed 'em first. I'm hungry," the monster at the entrance whined irritably. "Just push the two humans in my mouth and I'll… get you a car or something. Looks like you need more iron in your diets anyway, hah!"

Kairi's assassin jittered, curling around her like a giant snake and coating her in some sort of abhorrent sticky solution. Saliva maybe? It wasn't as though it had a mouth, but…

"Nooooooo… I'm being eaten alive!" Kairi whined, acting as best she could while carefully choosing her words. If she'd said 'don't eat me', the Assassin might have backed off; Lea had told them to follow Kairi's orders, and they were obedient to a fault.

Which meant the Nobody was now snaking around her tighter.

Smart.

"Thank goodness we're not indoors in the dark, where it prefers to eat it's prey," Kairi choked out. She wasn't sure if a mid-ranking Nobody could even understand the concept of 'take a hint'.

It moved to heft her on a shoulder, careful to hold her in the crick between its first arm-blade and its un-neck, and whined, charging for the darkness inside the abandoned mall. The other Nobody followed suit with Dipper.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, you two imbeciles are stealing my lunch. MY lunch!" the monster called out as the Assassins ducked into the mall and barricaded the door behind them.

"When we're out of view of the big arm guy, go back to patrol mode," Kairi hissed at one. "Both of you."

Once they were back on their own legs, Dipper and Kairi shared a glance before bursting out laughing. "That… was… crazy!" Dipper wheezed.

"Let's… not do that again," Kairi replied in agreement. "Okay. Watera," she said, summoning her Keyblade, pointing the tip at herself. Immediately, she was drenched with a stream of summoned water.

"Ugh, two steps backwards and one step forward," she muttered. "I know there's a way to use a Fire spell to dry you off, but I don't know exactly how to do it. Sopping wet it is. Light," she added, and a warm glow emanated from her Keyblade illuminating the way through the eerie building.

"I think I hear something," Dipper said, after a few moments.

"Well, this place was guarded, so…" Kairi said, gripping her Assassin's arm tightly. "Stay sharp. Nobodies, are there other hearts here?"

Hers dragged her sideways, towards a sign labeled FOOD COURT.

"As long as I'm not on the menu… again…"

* * *

"The taps have stopped working?"

"Yeah, and I'm no good at Water. Mickey can, but he needs to conserve magic. Drawing from the ambient mana here's going to ruin him. The only Light mage here that can would be Kairi, and that's just 'cause she's incorruptible. Naminé, you probably would fall under the same boat, but you can't use magic, can you?"

Lea, Mickey, Isa, and Naminé had commandeered the small kitchen and were talking strategy, Lea with an eye on his cell phone the entire time. Kairi and Dipper were fine- tired, dirty, a bit hungry, but fine- and Kairi was sending back occasional texts with updates on how the eye-bats traveled in packs, and some information on Cipher's personal monster minions.

"Maybe if I sat down and learned, I might be able," Naminé admitted. "Anyone can do basic magic with access to mana and practice, right?"

Mickey nodded. "Time might'a stopped here, but that doesn't mean we gotta lotta it. Every minute, Cipher's suckin' up more of the townsfolk. We're runnin' out of food 'n water soon. He can play the long game; he's tryin' to starve us out."

Sometimes Lea would forget Mickey was a king. It was difficult to forget with the middle aged human man, eye bags and sunken features sitting next to him.

Lea thought that when it was all over, it was going to be real hard talking with Mickey again at eye level like this. Not without him squatting or Mickey standing on a stool.

"I can deal with the water problem at least. And… when we have a hammer, let's make every problem a nail," he added, gesturing at Lea. "You've got power over the Assassins, right? Which means… I should have power over my Berserkers, if they're in this hellscape. First order of business is commanding our legions to build a well. And then I'll make sure it's filled with fresh water. Then I'll see about filling tubs and getting everyone designated bath time. This place smells horrendous and that cannot be good for morale."

Mickey smiled lightly. "Someone else familiar with combatting the fatigue surrounding a siege."

Isa slapped Lea hard on the back. "Lea here was our assassin. Good at his job, but commander, he is not. I am fortunate we made it to you."

Mickey held out a hand.

"I… what is the meaning of this?" Isa asked, looking down at it.

"We've never formally worked together before, have we?" Mickey asked, chipper. "So I wanted to finally, properly say nice t'meetcha."

Isa hesitated a moment, before reaching out and shaking the King's hand. "Let's reign in this chaos, shall we?"

* * *

Dipper was salivating.

"Nachos!" he cried.

Kairi facepalmed. "Nobody just leaves out a plate of hot food during an apocalypse. Aside from Sora," she added, muttering, the '**but he's not here**' strongly implied.

Dipper pushed on his Assassin. "Check for traps."

It didn't move. Dipper frowned.

"Leave Dipper with me and check for traps," Kairi said lightly, the Assassin letting go of him to gingerly jitter around the cafeteria table. Safely having made a lap of the perimeter, Kairi rolled her eyes and motioned at Dipper, who hungrily ran for the snack. Someone must have made it at one of the abandoned kitchen stations and left it behind before being gobbled up or petrified, and if the food really was just left th-

Dipper screamed and flailed, as he were strung up in a rabbit trap. A redhead in warpaint screamed and jumped up, brandishing an axe an inch from his nose, before backing off- just in time, as the Nobodies were about to tear the woman in two.

"…**Dipper**?"

* * *

Dipper shoved a handful of processed cheese and not-quite stale tortilla chips in his mouth, sitting on the mall roof with Kairi, Wendy, and their two agitated bodyguards. Wendy smiled lightly, and punched Dipper gently in the shoulder.

"Well, hey, we've got an army, now, don't we? We'll get Mabel back I pro-"

A giant flying minion of Cipher's screeched, further down the road, and began to eat a billboard, tearing at chunks of vinyl sheeting and metal rebar.

"Man, I'm not sure who's hungrier," Wendy joked. "You or that monstrosity. Money's on you right now. I caaaan't be sure, but I think it's cheating."

Dipper laughed a little, before looking horrified, dropping the rest of his food court container of nachos out of his hand, onto the one-armed monstrosity below, still guarding the mall's entrance. Now Kairi knew why the creature had stayed so close- he'd smelled **person **in there, but couldn't actually wrench the doors open.

And she also knew why Dipper dropped his food.

The monstrosity shook himself sideways, rolling, to get the entire container in his mouth, paper box and all. Dipper, Wendy, and Kairi shuffled away from the roof's edge hoping he didn't see them.

"Huh, eye bat musta dropped this. Not bad. Now if only one or ten of them would just get in my mouth already, I'd be set..." the beast grumbled.

Safely out of view, Kairi looked back to the spot where the billboard once stood. A large orb, wrapped in chains and glowing through the cracks, was suspended past the highway beyond.

**Mabel**.

* * *

"For the last time, Dipper, no, we are not just teleporting to it," Kairi hissed at him, rappelling off the side of the mall with equipment from the sporting goods store so they didn't need to come out the front entrance again. "It nearly killed you, and it'll probably do the same for Wendy. You two are already in danger just from this exposure. Bill's magic is just seeping with darkness."

"Why aren't you?" Dipper hissed back. "You're a human right?"

Kairi frowned, thinking of the right answer. Some of it was her clothing, some was the fact that she was a Princess of Heart. She sighed, and settled on a white lie instead. "I also have years of magic training." A true statement, but not the reason she could handle the jumps just fine. If she'd said her clothes, she was worried in Dipper's frenzied state to seek out his sister he might just try and steal them.

Because if Sora or Riku were in visible distance, it's what she'd resort to.

* * *

The three of them scaled a chain link fence connecting the back of the mall to a used car lot adjacent, scanning for a vehicle.

"Anyone know how to hot-wire a car?" Wendy hissed.

"What's a hot wire?" Kairi asked. She'd seen vehicles like these on a few worlds, and, if they ran on electricity she mused she could probably Thunder one to life if needed.

"We gotta unlock one without a key, and get it started," Dipper explained.

Kairi just flicked her fingers, materializing Destiny's Embrace. "So, which car do we want?"

"Isn't that key a bit… big? Can you make a smaller one?" Wendy asked, surprised by the sudden appearance of the large weapon. Dipper had seen her draw it a few times now, but not actually use it yet. Kairi smiled softly, pointed it at an SUV on the other side of the fence, and turned the key. The locks disengaged, and the car stuttered to life.

"…well then," Wendy said, at a loss for words.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice called out, as about ten more cars began to rev their engines.

"Shiiiiii~take mushrooms…" Wendy hissed, turning her curse slightly more benign for Dipper's preteen ears.

A large gang of rough, tattooed men wearing the remains of prison uniforms poked heads out of old SUVs and sedans, grinning madly. And from the gaudiest, worst pickup truck on the lot, stepped a boy, smaller than Dipper but with a coif of hair to make up for his stature in the same soft white as Riku's.

Kairi would say that the similarities between the two started and ended right there.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here? Guests for lil' ol' me?"

* * *

"Move, you buncha idiots," Lea yelled, rubbing the perpetual exhaustion from his eyes. He didn't want to summon more than two or three- there were still the two with Kairi, and the last thing he needed was to lose control over them, especially from as far away as her group was. Isa had called forth three Berserkers of his own, and they were absolutely just as terrifying as Lea remembered them. He sent two out of the enchanted bubble around the Pines estate to chop a few trees for firewood- Lea could make fire freely with the amount of mana around them, but it still needed to be contained and sustained in a pit, and the third helped Lea's Assassins break ground for a well.

Isa, satisfied he didn't need to stand over the shoulders of his small legion, went back inside to fill up the three baths with Water magic and let the first group of refugees wash themselves. Mickey and the minotaur (**manotaur**, the creature corrected), prepared food.

"We're running out of… well, everythin'," Mickey said, sighing, as Isa flitted though the rooms checking on civilians- human, monster, and fairy alike.

"I'll send a Berserker to town. Are there food stores there?"

"Eeeee-yup," a short shoe-less man hollered, in a large hat. Isa wasn't sure if he was just a very short human or a very tall dwarf, and given how on-edge some of the refugees seemed to be, he was a bit too afraid to ask.

* * *

"**Gideon**," Dipper hissed low, with a bit of bite. "All we need is one car. You've got an entire lot of them."

"No siree," the tiny kid replied, grinning in a way that was decidedly both extremely innocent and very very sinister at the same time. "Bill Cipher deputized me as sheriff of this here wasteland, and nobody travels it without my say-so. Including you. **Especially **you." Gideon turned and took a closer look at the group, the two Assassins standing possessively in front of Kairi and Dipper on the other side of the fence. "Well kooky here. Some of Cipher's stupider minions brought y'all to me anyway. Come on then, purple 'n pointy. Hand 'em over and you might just eat tonight, yeah?"

Dipper smiled confidently. "Oh, nooooo," he whined. "We were caught by these things. I just hope they don't bring us around into your car lot, Sheriff Gideon."

"What would we do if they brought us in there?" Kairi moaned.

Wendy sighed. The two of them really needed to take up acting lessons. There was no way Gideon would even sort of believe that performance.

"Oh, doll, see now that's more like it. Why don't y'all just beg now, hmmm?" Gideon asked, the power having gone to his head.

Wendy sighed, and allowed the Nobody to drag her by the wrist into the lot.

When they passed the car Kairi had unlocked, Kairi nodded at her "captor"; it flung open the car door and tossed her in the backseat middle before squeezing in on a side, pushing the driver's door open for Wendy to slide in the front. Dipper and the other Nobody did the same on the front and rear passenger side.

For a split moment, Wendy panicked, before yanking the clutch and running the Keyblade-hot-wired SUV straight through the budget chain link fence.

"Floor it!" Dipper screamed as he buckled his seatbelt and reached to help Wendy with hers. Gideon's gang of wasteland warriors already revving engines in pursuit.

* * *

Wendy flung the car down the highway, the lot of them screaming bloody murder as a small caravan of cars behind them sped into view, along with the one-armed monstrosity from the mall, who'd seen the cars peel out of the next door lot and decided it wanted its food to-go. It swiped at a tricked out sedan, throwing the whole car and passengers into its mouth.

Kairi shuddered. She didn't care they were playing for the other team. Nobody deserved that. Silently, she hoped the monstrosity was more like… well, Monstro. Maybe it would spit them back out a bit later after a bout of indigestion.

Given this world was a lot less saccharine than the ones she was used to, it was a vain hope, but one nonetheless. She didn't have the bandwidth to spare on mourning an enemy, especially with a field of colored magic bubbles rapidly approaching.

"Weirdness bubbles!" Dipper cried, sheer panic on his face as he informed Kairi in the backseat.

"I'm going to have to drive through, everyone hang on!" Wendy shrieked, no signs of slowing down.

They were soon enveloped in a colored bubble, and Kairi trilled slightly, realizing for just a few moments she was suddenly a human-sized songbird.

The car passed seamlessly out the other side and Kairi pressed fingers to her face. Normal. Featherless. **Thankfully**.

And then they went through the next one.

Kairi gasped. For the scant few moments in the next soap bubble of Darkness magic, Dipper and Wendy were Dusks. Wendy still had a hand on the clutch, another on the wheel, and feet on the pedals, so she was hopefully still aware, if not at least running on autopilot until they exited the pocket dimension- or whatever the magic spheres were. Kairi could see from the rear view mirror that she'd become Naminé, thankfully still keeping her own bodily proportions.

But if she, Dipper, and Wendy were Nobodies in this bubble…

She almost didn't want to turn and look to her left and right, but the scant few seconds meant she owed it to her bodyguards of the last few days to do so, and grabbed their hands, glancing quickly.

A young man with ashen blonde hair was seated on her left, maybe early twenties, while a teen with short black curls and dark skin sat to her other side, both clutching their heads as the temporary and sudden return to humanity overwhelmed them.

They were out of the bubble and back to reality not a moment later, the two guests in the backseat returned to their hulking Assassin forms.

Kairi didn't let go of their rubbery hands, massaging each palm with a thumb.

"Thank you for your help, both of you," Kairi said, under choked breath as Wendy cranked the gear to make a jump across a ravine. "I promise, we'll turn you human again."

As the car lurched skyward, Kairi leaned sideways, first to the right, then the left, kissing each gently on the tops of their heads.

* * *

The car landed sideways, smoking with bent metal twisted at unnatural angles. Thankfully, everyone was belted, and Kairi smashed out the window with her Keyblade to pull herself up and out of the wreck before helping others. A hooded figure shuffled towards her, offering a hand first to Dipper, then Wendy, as Kairi focused on extricating the two Assassins from the backseat.

**Former **Assassins, Kairi corrected, as she pulled the woman, clad in grey-purple, from the wreck.

She felt like she was clutching Darkness.

"Can you stand?" Kairi asked her, helping her lean on the upturned car as she helped lift the man out and over the broken window, mindful to not nick him with the shattered glass edges.

"Think so," the woman rasped, testing out her voice. "Am I… no, I'm not human," she said, opening her palms to massive bursts of controlled red flame.

"I'll help," Kairi said, quietly.

"Master Axel asked us to protect you, and I promised I would," the man muttered, rubbing his head. "Oof, that smarts."

Kairi reached out, casting Cure on each. They breathed out green sparks and slumped into each other.

"What are your names, then?" Kairi asked.

"Beats me," the woman said, shrugging. "I… think I have hazy memories of being human but… nothing concrete. That bubble of darkness knocked something in me, though. Assassin is fine for now, I still have my power."

The man grunted, agreeing.

"Please rest," Kairi said, nodding at them. She'd need to text Lea on what to do about two Nobodies becoming fully humanoid like he had been. If anyone knew what to do, he would.

The woman and man sighed and sat on the hard dirt, as the sounds of revving grew louder. A single pickup truck roared into view, Gideon screaming from a bullhorn.

"Howdy, y'all!" he hollered, both friendly and unnervingly menacing at the same time. The car drifted sideways, blocking off a direct path to the chained up spherical prison beyond them. The hooded man dropped his cover, revealing the large friendly janitor working at the Pines' estate whose name Kairi couldn't quite remember. Too many people, and too much panic. He stood protectively in front of Dipper, nodding slightly at Wendy who unsheathed her axe off her back in preparation for a fight.

Gideon raised a fist, and a massive flock of eye-bat Heartless began to converge overhead, screeching loudly and awaiting a chance to descend.

"Do either of you know Esuna?" Kairi hissed at the Nobodies behind her. The woman raised her hand to half-mast.

"Good, because if I get petrified, I need you to heal me. Other than that, please stay out of this and rest."

Dipper bit his lip, crossed his arms, and pushed himself past the janitor.

"**Gideon**!" he cried at the gaudy child blocking the way. "Why are you doing this? Because you think my sister will date you again? News flash, keeping her locked up like this isn't doing you any favors. If you want someone to like you, you have to make yourself likeable!"

Kairi almost choked on her own spit. That's what this was really about- love? Kairi's earlier comparison between Gideon and Riku hadn't been as far-fetched as she'd initially thought. A misguided child, playing for the wrong side for someone he loved, even if she…

Wow, and Mabel even had the early-teen damsel in distress problem down pat, hadn't she? Kairi only wished Mabel's life would skip the kidnapping-at-fifteen straight for some badass magical powers and a little more agency. Considering that she and Wendy had literally taken down a unicorn just before they'd arrived on this world, Kairi wasn't too worried about Mabel's future trajectory, so long as they took care of the issue in front of them now.

Correction, so long as **Dipper **did. Kairi was happy to lend her sword arm, but this wasn't her world, and drama between its inhabitants wasn't hers to butt into.

Dipper took another step forward. Kairi, with her training, could see his legs shake just so. He wasn't scared, he was frightened out of his gourd. But he was also quite brave.

"Between the two of us, who knows Mabel better, really?" Dipper continued, not breaking eye contact. "Because let me ask you, between you brown-nosing Bill or letting me break her out of that thing, which one do you think she'd appreciate more?"

Gideon stuttered, at a loss.

"You think you can just force her to love you? That's not how hearts work at all and you know it, Gideon. Now you can let me through quietly and I'll tell her you did, or I'm going in there by force and I can tell her I did. Your choice."

Kairi saw something break in Gideon, and he shooed his men to step aside. "You tell Mabel I let you on through now, yeah?"

"I'll tell Mabel you personally escorted us here," Dipper replied back, smiling a little.

Gideon blushed.

Kairi reached out, drawing her Keyblade, and pointed it at the massive lock on the bubble's chains. The magic undid itself with an earth shattering click, and the flock of eye-bats overhead screamed, summoning even more.

"Go, Dipper!" Gideon screamed at him, practically pushing the boy towards the sphere. Wendy and the janitor ran past the wasteland men to join him.

"Kairi!" Dipper shouted.

"I'll fend them off!" she screamed, aiming her Keyblade towards the oncoming horde. "Go! Save your sister!"

Gideon gave Dipper another shove and ran to stand beside Kairi. "Might not look it, sweetcheeks, but I've got a mean right hook."

"Watch my six," Kairi said, glaring down.

"Tell Mabel I fought for her!" Gideon shouted over his shoulder as Dipper and his friends jumped into the prison bubble, and the flock of Heartless descended.

* * *

Naminé sighed. She couldn't help at all in the last world, and certainly felt no more useful here. She'd already been shooed out of the kitchen and the side yard- there were enough cooks already and she wasn't made for the backbreaking work necessary to help build the well or fortifications. Her powers, as they were, were passive, reactive. She couldn't fight the Heartless, but they would ignore her. She couldn't make dark corridors, but they wouldn't harm her. She hadn't even had the chance to sit down and properly study magic- any magic, like Ienzo had. From what little she knew, he could cast some basic healing and ice spells after much study and practice. He had been one of the first Nobodies to recomplete, after all. He'd had some time.

She didn't.

So there she sat, sighing, in the worn sofa in the cramped living room. A girl huffed and sat next to her.

"I'm bored, and there's no TV or electricity. You, entertain me."

Naminé almost laughed aloud at the girl's brazen demand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too," Naminé chose to say aloud. "I'm Naminé, and you are?"

"Well hello No Name-y. Do you really have no idea who you're talking to? Hmphh!"

"Are you royalty in this world?" Naminé asked, genuinely, re-evaluating her station with the annoyed blonde to her right. She hadn't met much royalty, but the ones she had (or had glimpsed through Sora, Xion, Riku, and Roxas's memories) fell into one of two categories, sweet as sugar, or as haughty as the girl before her.

"So you're one of those weird magical people," the girl frowned. "Figures. What are you, a fairy? Surprised the Northwest name didn't reach you guys too." She looked down at her feet and muttered, "not that it matters anymore anyway."

"Not a fairy. A Nobody. Like the redhead and the blue haired gentlemen using magic."

The girl thrust a hand in her face. "Pacifica. Pacifica Northwest. Your people know what a handshake is, right?"

"Oh, yes, sorry, Miss Pacifica." Naminé gently took her hand and shook it. Pacifica frowned a little.

"That was weird."

"Did… I… do something?"

"For a second, I thought I was on a beach."

"Oh." Naminé pulled back her hand. "I guess my power is a lot stronger here. It makes sense, with Isa and Lea's powers so strong too. Sorry!"

"Well, the beach is way better than this stinkhole," Pacifica offered.

Naminé smiled. "I… can't do much of anything useful here. My power is to share and see and tamper with memories. I must have shown you one of my friend's one's by accident."

Pacifica offered out her hand again. "Well, I did say I'm bored and the TV's busted without power. Gimmie a cool one."

"You… want to view a memory?" Naminé asked, hesitantly. "I suppose I could, but…"

"Something with high fashion, drama, and lots and lots of petty gossip," Pacifica demanded, grinning.

Naminé put a hand on a chin. "I don't… **oh**. Rapunzel's coronation ball! That's exactly the ticket."

Naminé held out her hand to Pacifica, and the girl greedily took it.

Both settled back on the couch, smiling a little at the dream outside reality, if only for a while.

* * *

Kairi was running dangerously low on stamina. Magic? That she had in spades. The mana might have been darkness, but as a Princess of Heart she could use it freely without the ill effects a non-darkness aligned person might possess. Her body wasn't used to a long endurance fight, and between the jarring sensation of occasionally being un-petrified by the lady Asssassin and her ragged breathing, she couldn't hang on for much longer.

A particularily large eye-bat swooped in, snatching away Gideon in its talons.

She'd failed him.

But… it wasn't eating him or turning him to stone.

"Just. Guard. That. Bubble," Gideon shouted out as the eye-bat left with half their flock, heading toward the pyramid in the sky.

She could do this. She **had **to do this.

She couldn't do it alone, though. She never had before. She was strong, certainly, but she was a team fighter. But she wasn't going to force the newly-humanoid Nobodies to help. It was one thing when they were truly brainless zombies, but now?

They might have had their powers, but they were **people**. But why hadn't they run?

"Why haven't you two fled?" Kairi shouted, as she hurled her Keyblade in a well aimed Strike Raid.

"Is that an order?" the man asked.

"What, no, of course not. You two are free to do what you want. You don't have to stay."

"Is **that **an order?" the man asked again.

Kairi froze. They might have the forms of the humans they used to be, but they were still Assassin nobodies, and Lea's commands to them still held.

"My last order to you two Nobodies," Kairi said with a grunt. "Yes, you two are free to do what you want. You're no longer indebted to me."

Both of them sighed out, and jumped up. "About damn time," the woman said, flicking her arms as her Assassin blades popped out of the sides of them. The man summoned fire up to his shoulders, peeling off in burning waves. "Let's blow them to bits."

* * *

"Dear me, just look at you dwarves! When was the last time any of you washed up?" Mary Poppins looked stern, putting her carpet bag down on the wooden floor of the attic.

"Lady, please, we've already asked for a timeslot for a bath, hold your unicorns," one of them whined. "Also, for the last time. Gnomes. Gnooooomes. Communal society, not underground digging operation. Can't you mudpeople get it sorted yet?"

"Well I never!" Mary huffed, as Vexen followed her through the portal, checking the all clock, pleased to see what had been about thirty minutes total led to a few hours' (admittedly stopped) time here. The house was still standing, and the irate fairies still present.

"Cut them some slack, please, they're war refugees," Vexen said softly, and Mary's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Very well. I will refrain from additional comments on hygiene or discipline for now. Let's sort out this demon so we can go rescue your friends."

* * *

Over 100k! Woo! And we are roughly at the halfway point in the entire story! This might possibly end up being 48-50 chapters (though Part Three, by how I've laid this story out has far fewer chapters, each being longer, so I can't say the final count just yet).

For those of you wondering why one chapter was only about 100 or so words, its because I've separated out everything during weirdmageddon; they're trapped outside of time, after all.

Lastly, y'all have officially made this my fourth most popular story on Archive of Our Own- the stats are a bitt harder to tell on fanfiction dot net- and I've written over 30 fanfics, so wow! I'm so happy you all are enjoying!


	25. its time to light the lights

Roxas looked to his left and right. His two Samurai clinked and jittered, and both gently grasped a hand each. He sat in the green room, opposite Walter and Gonzo who were talking quietly to each other. Roxas could hear strains of a pep talk.

He could sort of use one himself.

He heard something- **someone**\- slide in behind him.

"Hello, Roxas."

"Hey, Ienzo. You don't… need to be so formal. Rox is fine too."

Ienzo smiled a little. "That's what Xion calls you right?"

"And Axel."

"You don't call him Lea?"

Roxas shook his head no as Ienzo dragged a folding chair around to face him, flipping it so he could lean forward on the chair back.

"I… never knew him as Lea," Roxas clarified. "Feels weird."

"I did… well, not that I really remember. I was turned as a kid and stayed a Nobody about a decade. I was an orphan with no birth records, so nobody knows if I'm older or younger than Sora. Either way, I'd have spent more time as a Nobody than a human."

"Same," Roxas choked out, laughing a little.

"That's cheating, you were never a human, Rox." Roxas smiled best he could with his doll mouth. Somehow, hearing Ienzo use his nickname felt… right. He and Xion needed to make one for him… unless he had one from Vexen-slash-Even already? Or Ansem? The two men were practically his fathers the way Axel was and Isa was attempting to be. Not that Roxas didn't still bristle when Isa was near; he knew in his mind that Isa was as much a victim as anyone else- but it was going to take time for his 'heart' to catch up on the matter.

"Three years a Nobody and zero a human is still more time a Nobody."

"I wonder, can you become a human at all?" Ienzo asked, elbow on his knee to stroke his chin in thought. "You, Naminé, and Xion are either entirely distinct from your Somebodies, were created from multiple Somebodies together, or… well, from just the memory of one."

"Five minutes to showtime!" Kermit cried over the chatting performers, cutting their conversation short.

"Fu~" Roxas started, before a member of the band blared his tuba.

"Rizzo, cut it out, you're gonna screw up the audio balance," Gonzo shouted over. A very tiny rat doll with a full sized tuba looked mildly sheepish at the floor. How he could hold the thing but Roxas couldn't hold his Keyblades annoyed him greatly; this world's laws of physics, like its laws of PG rated language, could suck his metaphorical dick. He wasn't even sure if the world would allow him to say that out loud or if he'd be subjected to someone banging on the stage's grand piano.

Roxas only sighed and cupped his hands over his mouth at his accidental curse. "Oops," he whispered under his breath; it was all the world allowed him, anyway.

He was too embarrassed to notice Ienzo's face light up with a brilliant grin.

* * *

The brown bear, Fozzie, pushed him towards the side of the stage, his Samurai dutifully following. "Just imagine everyone watching is in their undies! Or not, because it's a telethon so the auditorium's empty. It's too dilapidated, anyway. Not like we had much time to do anything but patch a few holes and replace the curtains."

"When you raise enough you'll fix the place up too?" Roxas asked.

"Of course, this place was practically home. But let's get our deed back first, hm? Kick 'em dead, you street busking genius!"

"Don't you mean knock 'em dead?" Roxas asked incredulously, adjusting his stupid hat.

"Knock on wood you don't do that, wakka-wakka-wakka! Now get out there!"

Roxas fully understood why the bear had been worried earlier about Roxas's ability to summon tomatoes.

* * *

The auditorium was empty, save the orchestra in the pit below him and some of the dolls watching from creaking, rusted chairs in the front row. Xion, sitting next to an irate looking eagle, gave him a thumbs up that pierced the bright light of the auditorium.

"Good evening L.A.!" Roxas shouted, with way more confidence than he actually had. He just needed to channel whatever-the-fuck Ienzo had been on earlier that day. "For those of you who saw the breaking news earlier- and man, I mean breaking, that was some car crash, right?"

The orchestra drummer gave him a cursory ba-dum-tssh.

Roxas took a deep breath. Like he'd practiced all afternoon.

"I'm Roxas, and I'm glad me and my friends could clown around to keep everyone's spirits up while the paramedics were able to clear the area. Good news- everyone's fine. Well, except the insurance adjusters. Bad news out of the way…" Roxas said, beckoning his two Nobodies to get on stage with him, one bumping the other to send a head flying at Roxas's feet, "and aren't we getting **ahead **of ourselves, gentlemen? I've heard of people throwing themselves into their work but I though it's more a 100% kind of thing. You're giving me like… 10, knock on wood I'm being generous here," Roxas added, picking up the head and knocking on its side, before bouncing it like a hacky-sack on his foot and knee, gently kicking it in an arc to lob it gracefully back onto the Samurai's neck… backwards.

"Is it still a headshot or is that more a three pointer?"

Roxas took a moment to glance out of the corner of his eye at the current donation tally. They needed… ten million dollars. Ten million munny was equivalent to roughly a hundred-thousand potions, or about fifty thousand sea-salt ice cream bars. Seventy five thousand if Scrooge continued to offer the trio his secret buy-two-get-one-free deal (though with the addition of Isa into their group it was probably going to morph to the less attractive three-plus-a-free).

He couldn't even imagine how impossible it would be to raise that much in just three hours of vaudeville acts.

Yet, here he was, sitting at act number two hovering at just about a million raised. A lot of people had to be watching for that much to be raised that quickly.

Roxas hoped Ienzo's theory was right. He didn't care if Kermit got his theater back- well he did, but not in the personal sense, he had something way more important to do far away from the shoddy old theater with its creaking seats and well-loved green room. But he needed to smoke out who or what had caused the earlier Heartless, and if in this world it was from showmanship…

He'd damn well put on a good one.

"Oh, you think you can do better?" Roxas asked the formerly decapitated Samurai who had screwed his head back in place. "Let's see you do some surgery then!"

The Samurai took off his wooden sword, and flicked off the other one's head, starting the slapstick routine Roxas was silently ordering them to accomplish. Even the eagle next to Xion cracked a small smile.

Roxas heard a high pitched whine, not quite like microphone feedback, but a sound not terribly far off, when the house lights, cameras, and computer screen with donation tallies powered down with varying **fwooms **and **clicks **and **cracks**.

Someone or something had cut the power to the theater. Ienzo, in the teen's infinite wisdom had been right.

The show may have already started, but the real theater was about to begin.

* * *

"The power! We can't broadcast without power!" Kermit cried out. "Someone see if this is just our strip overloaded or if the whole city's down!"

Flashlights and cell phones clicked on with bright beams as humans and dolls alike raced through the theater.

"Bad news, Kermit, we've been sabotaged," Gonzo cried out, utilizing a bullhorn. "Someone straight up cut the wires."

"Who would-" Kermit started, before Roxas noticed the gold, unblinking eyes throughout the room.

**Heartless**.

He'd have to slap Ienzo later for being too smart for his own good. Hug him, too, certainly, but maaaaan was his intelligence unfair.

* * *

"Tex. **Richman**." Kermit said the name with a bite Roxas didn't know he had.

The rest of the auditorium's inhabitants groaned loudly. Clearly this man was someone everyone knew. And here he was, like a vaudeville villain, storming the theater with an army of shadows and marionette Heartless.

Roxas was half wondering if the world was going to start breaking out into a choreographed song-and-dance number next.

The back of the theater's doors slammed open, and Roxas groaned. This world really was going to do it, wasn't it?

Thankfully for Roxas's waning sanity, it was actually just Walter's brother and his girlfriend.

"I… we… came… as… fast… as… we… could…" Gary breathed out. They couldn't have been that far if the young man had run here the moment the power had gone out, but Roxas just stopped wasting mental bandwidth on the world's plotholes at this point. 'Because it makes for good theater' seemed to be the running physics of this world, and that was a good enough excuse for him.

Gary's girlfriend hefted a toolkit and a welding mask over her shoulder. "Where's the problem, boys? Let's get some power back on in here."

Ienzo stood up, flailing his arms, and pointed to where he'd heard Gonzo's voice. Mary hefted her tools and ran, still wearing a full dress and pinafore while carrying dirty thick work gloves in her teeth.

"Don't you stupid… **Muppets**… ignore **me**! **Me**! Tex Richman, the guy who owns this dilapidated hunk of a theater, who's going to tear it down brick-by-brick so I can drill for oil under it!"

Now he was **monologuing**. Great.

"Get out," Xion said, summoning her Keyblade as the house lights flickered back on, camera rolling with an army of Heartless in full view. The man himself, the gaudy older man in a hat that was clearly compensating for at least five different things, had the same lifeless golden eyes of the Heartless. He was either one of them to begin with, or had been corrupted by them somehow.

Roxas didn't care. He just needed him gone so they could leave this sideways planet and get to Destiny Islands and the actual Old World they needed to be in.

"Get out? **Get out**? This is already **my**theater. The deed's mine. It's **me **you washed up former stars even owe that money to!"

Ienzo stood up, crossed his hands on his shoulders, and loudly and clearly stated, "Get the f~~~ out."

Instead of **fuck**, the hall resounded with a loud groan, and a piece of the rafters fell, conveniently flattening three heartless, their bodies puffing up in bloodless smoke, releasing their hearts.

"Ienzo, you can't say that on a national broadcast! They'll take us off air!" Kermit cried.

"Say what?" Ienzo asked, a massive grin on his face. "I didn't say f-."

Another piece of the building fell, just barely missing Tex but taking out another two Heartless.

Gonzo stepped out from the side of the stage. "I didn't hear anyone say f-, did you?"

Another chunk of plaster fell, blocking the sound. Roxas eyed the donation meter. They'd just broken six million, and it didn't look like their airtime was getting cut.

They were, after all, following the letter of the law of this world, if not its spirit.

Fozzie jumped out of the green room with the rest of the acts waiting to go on, and threw a rubber chicken in the middle of a nest of confused Heartless. "Here, take it, it's the last f- I have to give, wakka-wakka-wakka!"

A dilapidated decorative pillar dropped on the entire confused group, as the musicians ascended from the pit, bows, mallets, and brass instruments in hand.

"Thanks for f-ing ruining the show!" one said, crashing his cymbals in a Heartless's face, the black creature exploding in a poof between the metal.

And with the pit fighting alongside Xion's Keyblade and the Muppet's words, the battle finally became **orchestrated **chaos.

* * *

The donation meter sat at a climax-inducing 9.8 million dollars.

The Heartless were all gone.

The roof, save one chunk conveniently in the middle of the stage, was in shambles.

Tex, eyes glowing and practically seeping with Darkness- an actual problem for Roxas as, despite being a nobody and able to use corridors, was actually Light-attuned like the Somebodies- Ventus and Sora- he'd come from, was now center stage and howling manically. Roxas considered his options, and Xion was poised stage right, Keyblade brandished. Tex was no small fry, he was absolutely the source of the Heartless's power and would require a bit more than some world-censored curse words to take down.

Walter stepped out of the green room, past Roxas and Xion, and faced Tex down on the stage. He nodded slightly out to the theater seats- at first, Roxas thought he was checking the donations or that the camera was still running, but no. He was looking to his brother and his brother's girlfriend.

Walter breathed in, then stared Tex down, completely ignoring the tendrils of darkness seeping of the comically villainous man.

"Tex? This theater's not just the walls and ceiling and seats. It's not much of anything, anymore, really. But it's also all of those things and more because the Muppet Show isn't a place. It's here." Walter touched at his pale blue suit jacket, before staring back up at the man-cum-Heartless. "And I'm going to bring the f-ing house down."

At the start of his curse, the final piece of ceiling made a mighty cracking noise, and on down- as if it couldn't have been timed better by Hercules himself- the very last chunk of ceiling fell on Tex Richman.

Former owner of the lot that contained the former Muppet Studios.

Roxas wondered, as the donations ticked to an even ten-million, how nice the renovations were going to be.

* * *

"They're **singing**," Ienzo cried, as the three of them fled the remains of the theater. The Muppets, after all, had a time slot for this telethon, and by goodness, they'd use the whole thing. "They're actually f-ing singing, oh hey, there's our bus back downtown," Ienzo added cheerfully, the bus's honk covering his newly fouled mouth.

"I take it you don't like this world?" Roxas asked him, grinning.

"I could have sworn I've seen a movie just like it from the disc section of the castle library. When I recompleted, I was stuck in bed for nearly a week, and Dilan put on children's films for me. The first act I did when I was strong enough to stand was to go to the disc player and break the film in two."

Xion and Roxas giggled. "If you remember the title, we should watch it when it's all over," Xion said. "I've only seen a few of the short films they play in the Twilight Town square."

* * *

The first thing Roxas did when they'd re-entered Pooh's world was pick up Xion and spin her.

"Never again," Roxas groaned, overwhelmed with joy at having height, and skin, and weird things like saliva again.

"Oh, dear, does that mean you won't visit?" Pooh, and a few of his friends were sitting at a makeshift campfire near the miasma. They must have been waiting for the three of them to come back.

"No, nononono, Roxas quickly clarified, shaking both head and arms. "We'll come back here, we promise. It's **there**that's the problem," Roxas said, pointing at the darkness behind them.

"Bad?" asked a yellow rabbit. "I can have that boarded up, lickety split."

The three former and current Nobodies looked at each other. "Not bad…" Xion clarified. "The people are nice and friendly, but… I think it was just too different from what we're used to. It should be safe, at least, if you want to poke in from time to time. I don't think anyone will even know you're not from there!" she added, rubbing the top of Pooh's felted head. "It's like your world, filled with living plush animals. Just bigger, and a lot noisier."

"That sounds wonderful, Mama, can we visit?" a kangaroo joey asked, peeking from his mother's pouch.

"It should be safe to go, now," Ienzo said, squatting to talk at eye level. "Just mind that they'll break out into song there. And speaking of going…" he added, hanging.

"You take care now! Please find Sora!" Pooh said cheerfully.

"We did figure out where he is," Roxas added with a smile, as they began fading out of the book and back to Radiant Garden. "We'll send him your way once we nab him!"

The group let out a collective sigh and sat at the conference table. Pence snuggled the book, resting his head on it, and the clock read 11PM.

"I don't think I want to smile again for the next century," Roxas groaned, realizing only now that the world of dolls had forced his perpetual smiling. His face actually hurt a little.

"Well, we don't have the time," Ienzo said, looking at his phone, now adjusted to Radiant time. "At least my hypothesis was correct. Only two hours passed here despite us experiencing about twelve hours of time. We can get to Terra's group without issue if one of you tunnels us directly to Destiny Islands."

One more- one more smile wouldn't kill him, Roxas realized.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Ienzo? Or someone?"

"Dear me!" he cried. "Rudol! We must speak to Rudol!"

* * *

alternate title: Dr. Ienzo or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the F-Bomb

yes. i went there.

literal.

f

bombs

you're welcome.

(dodges tomatoes, wakka-wakka-wakka)


	26. wierdmageddon 2b

hey we have a tv tropes page!

/Fanfic/Infinityinfinity

feel free to edit it!

we're also hurtling rapidly to the end of part 2: London and LA are both finished, Weirdmaggedon has two chapters left, and there's a few more chapters of Lestallum and Haven (probably about 4 total between them), before we move into Part 3 and its inevitable chaos in Shibuya. Thanks again for reading and commenting! I love everyone's ideas and theories. I just hope the 'real answers' live up to some of your expectations.

* * *

"Order up, hot plate!" the Assassin lady shouted, quick on her feet and grinning brightly as she rammed her arm-blades through the belly of an eye-bat Heartless and set the monster ablaze from the inside.

"Wish I had my gun…" the Assassin man grunted, annoyed, shooting a stream of fire out instead. He was quickly petrified, and both Kairi and Lady- as good a name as any until the Nobody remembered her own- shouted an Esuna to spring him back to normal. He groaned, but quickly began to dispatch a few more with controlled wheels of fire.

Kairi beamed. There was no doubt in her mind that they were starting to remember who they were.

The eye-bats had thinned out to only a dozen now, and Kairi took one long arc swing with her Keyblade, like she'd learned from Lea. Four went down with a single Strike Raid, her companions destroying the final eight between them with a few more bursts of fire.

Their mission complete, the three smiled, and sat quietly on the non-glass shattered side of the car wreck, facing the prison bubble.

"How are you, Kairi?" Guy asked her.

"I should be worrying about you two. Military… and chef?" Kairi asked, looking between them, both still sitting on either side of her protectively.

"Not military, I don't think," Guy said, shaking his head.

"Chef and… owner…" Lady replied, stroking her chin. "I have my own restaurant. **Had**? I… it's still hazy."

"What are you going to do, Boss?" Guy asked. "Now that I'm… this… I could use some food."

"I'm sure I could pop back off to town and get us something, sugar. You two wait here."

"Yeah, I don't think I'm leaving until-" Kairi started, before the prison bubble began to shake in its chains. Violent purple energy began to flick off it in cascading sparks and whips.

"Change a'plans, sweet. We're bailing."

Guy and Lady nodded to each other and roughly grabbed a wrist each, yanking Kairi through a corridor before she could even process, much less object.

* * *

"-the hell… what…" Kairi cried as her vision cleared, the smell of burning ozone on her tongue and nose.

"Master Axel gave us two orders. One was to follow yours, the second was to take you back if you were in immediate danger."

"But… can't you think for yourself?" Kairi cried at Guy, already knowing the answer but still mad.

"We**did**. And the answer was we needed to protect you. There's nothing we can do about that bubble. You just need to trust Dipper."

"'Sides, there's a perfectly working car there for 'em, gas, keys and all," Lady added, reminding her about Gideon's abandoned pickup truck. "They can get back once they're ready. We can't teleport them, anyway. Ain't safe."

Kairi nodded. The two of them were starting to talk more distinct, more like… people. It was time she took them to their master.

* * *

"Shit."

Lea stared, slack jawed at Kairi dragging Guy and Lady towards him, a strong grin on her face.

"Leeeee~aaaaa…" Kairi cooed at him. "You've got some children to adopt."

"Shit, fuck, no," Lea hissed. "Tiana… Tiana… no…"

Lea dropped his shovel and ran, scooping up Lady and Guy in a hug, mindful of Lady's exposed arm blades. "They got your worlds. **No**."

Lea wasn't upset his Nobodies had become humanoid, he was upset that he recognized at least one of them. Loosely, he pulled back, looking at them, before letting go of Guy's hand and pointing a finger gun at his own temple. "What do you two numbskulls remember, huh?"

Kairi would have swatted him if **numbskull **wasn't so affectionate.

"Not much, I'm afraid, Master Axel," Lady said, afraid to make eye contact.

"Now see here," Lea said, frowning. "I hated the term when I could feel it out of you all as Assassins, and I hate it more now that you're saying it aloud. Just. Axel. Or…" he said, smiling oddly, like it physically hurt to do so, "Lea, if we're being terribly pedantic."

Lea frowned, and rubbed his chin. "Can't say if it'll do much, but I want you to go in the house and find a girl named Naminé, okay? She might be able to help jog your memory."

"Wait, Naminé is here? How?" Kairi asked, confused, elated, and concerned all at once.

"The path out to Monstropolis never closed," Lea said with a shrug. "And with time stopped in here, it didn't matter that Monstropolis runs on such a fast time zone. Isa, Naminé, and Vexen caught up to us after all. With a guest to boot."

"So… we can just… leave…" Kairi said. "But with the stopped time, we also have the best chance of saving Sora and Riku. The minute this ends, we can all jump there."

Lea nodded. "And?"

"You don't want to strand anyone here," Kairi finished. "I don't want to either."

"Exactly," he said, mussing Kairi's short hair. "Now, you two, Nobodies, go inside and talk to Naminé, she's blonde in a white dress. I need to catch up with Kairi here, yeah?"

"Yessir," Guy and Lady said in unison.

"For the love of… stop it," Lea whined at them. "Lea. **Leaaaaaaa**. Get it memorized, you hear me?"

* * *

"How'd it happen?" Lea asked, having called his two remaining Assassins over to sit. "And… can you do it again? I know, deep down, these guys are… just like I was as a Nobody, just less… well. It doesn't feel right ordering them around if I can give them the chance to choose for themselves."

"You called the girl Tiana," Kairi said, looking fiercely at Lea as she patted one of the Assassin's heads.

"Princess Tiana. She's from a world called The Great Bayou. She and her husband opened up an amazing restaurant. Before I… before I knew Roxas and Xion me 'n Zex, er, Ienzo, when he was a Nobody, used to sneak off there before reporting back from missions. He always busied himself with cooking in his downtime, so when I found good places to eat, I'd take him."

"But if she's a princess of Heart-"

"Princess as in **married to a prince**, Kairi. Not everyone royal is an ~of Heart, and not all of **you **freaks are royalty." He nudged her playfully with a bony elbow.

Kairi blushed. "Alice and I aren't, you have a point. But what's an actual princess doing working in **foodservice**?"

"**What she loved**, clearly. Woman was chef de cuisine and front of house too when she felt like it."

Kairi just snorted and shook her head. "She did say something like 'hot plate, order up' when she punched a Heartless with fire. What do you think happened?"

"Not think, **know**. Remember now, we didn't have hearts back then. So no emotions, just the vague memories of them. And the only vague memory of an emotion Vexen had at the time… jealousy. I guess he thought I was taking his boy away from him. His son, his research partner, bit of both… beats me. He sent his legions to the planet, and must have wiped it off the map. All I know is one day, I tried to open up a corridor to get a po'boy, and it wouldn't open up. The world was gone to darkness. Honestly… with what we know now about worlds in the Dark World… it would have been better she wasn't so strong willed and ended up in my legion. She would have just drifted as a Heartless 'till her world got restored. Which is something we all still need to do after rescuing Sora and Riku, mind. Not every world is back yet. And her here is proof that hers is still in need of restoration."

Lea sighed. "So, I took your bait of a side-track, mind humoring me… **princess**?"

Kairi giggled. The nickname still made her feel like a little child. "I… well, it might have been one of two things, or a combination of both. Those weird waves of magic we've been seeing mess with reality."

"We've noticed. The only things they aren't affecting are the Heartless and Nobodies."

"Except… one did. The bubbles of his magic are a bit different, more like pocket dimensions. They only affect you while you're in them, it's not permanent like those pink waves."

"Don't tell me you walked through one."

"We drove through two. Had to."

Lea facepalmed and immediately pressed fingers to her temples and wrists, checking her for corruption. Satisfied he hadn't found anything out of the ordinary, he rotated his wrist in a spinning motion. "Go on."

"One of them swapped everyone's state. Dipper and Wendy- the redhead who thought you were cute, she's with Dipper now- they turned into Dusks for a few moments. I looked like Naminé. And the Assassins… turned into their human selves. Then we drove out the other side, and reverted back. I leaned over and kissed each of them on the forehead to thank them for helping us. I'm not sure what came over me to do it but…"

Lea rolled his eyes. "If it's that simple, I'm going to go back in time and slap Xemnas."

"What is?"

"True love's kiss."

"But I…" Kairi started, blushing madly. Lea put a finger to her lips to shush her and calm her down.

"Can it, princess, I didn't say **romantic **love. Gratitude's a type, too, y'know."

Kairi blushed further, and nodded, before leaning forward to plant a kiss on the top of the head of the Assassin in front of her. Lea rubbed his own forehead, and leaned forward to do the same for the other.

"Thanks for covering my ass, knucklehead."

Lea's kissed Assassin phased sideways, and for a split moment, Kairi saw double, the world glitching slightly as the planes re-locked into place.

The Assassin was now a young woman with entirely too much blonde hair. "Darling, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

* * *

After Lea kissed the other Assassin back to humanoid form, thinking of gratitude, discovering this one to be none other than Tiana's husband Naveen, he shooed them both inside to go see if Naminé could do anything about their memory. After all, all Lea had to go on was Tiana and Naveen's interactions with him in their restaurant, seven years prior, before time froze for them all as lesser Nobodies.

"I know I saw that woman there too… friend of Tiana's I think," Lea said sheepishly.

"Didn't have it memorized?" Kairi teased, as the two took shovels to finish digging the well themselves.

* * *

"Heading into Day Four at this point…" Isa groaned pouring over a map Naveen had nicked for him from the town library. He, Mickey, and Guy- name still unknown, but from a world called Jamestown- were pooling their strategic prowess together to figure out how to assault Cipher's pyramid. The demon himself hadn't left it once he'd taken Ford, leaving them out of a very crucial option- the ability to bargain.

Nobody knew what the damn creature wanted. It couldn't have been satisfied with ruining a single town in the woods, could it?

Especially when the world was as big as this one, filled with fairies and unicorns and even angels that could bring people back to life…

"Maybe Cipher wants'ta bring someone back from the dead?" Mickey offered. "Seems like the angels can do it, from what little we heard from 'em."

"It's as good a start as any," Isa replied, pulling on his hair. "I cannot imagine what else he wants. Not as though he has… well… come over here and demanded anything."

"He just took Ford away and terrorizes anyone out on the roads or in town," Mickey replied, nodding. "He's ignored us completely, even though he clearly **knows **this place exists."

"Ignored, or can't enter. Between the unicorn hair and Lea's hex, this place is extremely warded." Isa beamed with pride. Lea wasn't nearly as much a one-trick pony as he used to be, and like he'd heard of Riku, fully embraced the fact that his magic drew from his darkness- without getting overwhelmed by it.

"So what, we send a representative to go bargainin' with Cipher?" Mickey asked, as the screen door swung open, slamming against the side on its hinges.

"Anyone home?" Dipper asked uneasily.

* * *

Rounds of hugging and crying later, and Dipper, Wendy, and the janitor -Soos, as he introduced himself to the crop of newcomers-, had returned, with Mabel in tow.

Mabel and Dipper would not let go of each other's' hands, until the onslaught of hugs separated them.

"We've gotta rescue Ford," Dipper said, staring at their other great-uncle angrily. "Why have none of you done anything?"

"What could we do?" Lea asked, throwing up his hands. "We've got no info on big, blinding, and all powerful here. With a few real specific exceptions, even leaving the grounds is a quick way to get petrified, or worse. We've got a few who can, safely, hands up." Lea gestured around the room, and Vexen, Naminé, Guy, Tiana, Naveen, and Blondie shot hands up.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, for Isa, he couldn't get his Berserkers to become humanoid, setting them up as sentinels around the perimeter, and Vexen's control only extended to Dusks, the lowest of all Nobodies. Trying to get any of them to regain their human forms without outright murdering them would be impossible; all that would do would put them back on their own worlds, anyway.

"Well, if we can't safely leave the Shack to confront Cipher…" Dipper said thoughtfully. "It's Lea's runes, right? Can you draw out a trail of them downtown so we have a safe path?"

"It's not the runes alone, it's also the wards on the house directly. And Princess Prissypants here certainly doesn't have enough hair to make a path all the way downtown."

An irate unicorn whinnied at that remark.

"Yeee-haw, boys and girls!" A short, shoeless man, the one Isa thought had been a dwarf, loudly slapped his knee. "If we can't make a trail to that crazy pyramid- 'n trust me I know me some crazy- why don't we move the whole place with us?"

"What, put the whole place on wheels?" Dipper asked incredulously.

Lea grinned. "Hey Isa, remember how I've got three property-damage related warrants for my arrest in San Fransokyo? You remember what that was for?"

"Turning a building into a giant fighting machination?" Isa asked, rolling his eyes, before he choked on his own spit.

"Hoo, boy, you too, kiddo?" the short old man asked Lea. "Gots me at least ten counts of property damage meself. Name's McGucket. Think we'll get along just fine," he added, spitting into his outstretched hand, offering it to Lea.

Lea looked a little green, but Vexen jabbed him in the ribs. "It seems the best possible plan we have at the moment. Having a moveable safe haven seems prudent, no?"

Lea swallowed bile and shook McGucket's hand. It was uncomfortably moist.

"Yeah, sure. Sleep deprived, hungry, and reaaaaal pissed off. Let's do this."

* * *

"Dear me… I say, I don't think I have the scientific know-how to be of even the slightest assistance here."

"Yeah." Namine looked to the woman with the iron wrought Keyblade, clad in deep navy armor. "I'm sure if we asked, there's gotta be something we could help with. Even Pacifica is, and she's younger than… well, no she's not really younger than me. I'm Naminé, by the way. I'm sorry I never introduced myself back in that lamp-lit world."

"When the redhead had the Nobodies raise hands, you raised yours," Mary said, looking sternly at her. It wasn't a question. "Yet, when you came to me back in Old London Town, I did not sense a shred of darkness on you as I did from your companions."

"I am one. I'm Kairi's, the redhead girl with the flower Keyblade?" Naminé ask-answered, pointing to where Kairi was using Flowmotion to circle around the exterior of the house, tagging it with some kind of spell.

"And yet you both exist. Curious. You do not possess a Keyblade of your own?"

"No, ma'am. Nor magic, not in the traditional sense at least. My sole powers are those over memory, and even then, there's many stipulations on how I can even use it. The only use I am here is that Heartless and Nobodies will not harm me."

"What if you punched one?" Mary asked her, tilting her head slightly, to watch Lea shoot up like a literal rocket on a pillar of flame to weld something to the roof. His own now-human Assassins followed his lead, joking with him all the while, as if they were old friends. Naminé had seen into their hearts, and they all were. The blonde man only after having his heart taken, but the other three had been friends with Lea even before that point.

"Punched one what?"

"Heartless. Would it become enraged, and attack?"

"I… don't know. I've never, um… punched a Heartless before."

"You can safely leave the magic protecting this place, though, no?"

Naminé nodded.

"Well, why don't you step just outside and goad one of the bats, then? See what happens if you do strike one."

Naminé was a flurry of embarrassed hands. "I couldn't!"

"And how do you know this? You've just told me you've never tried. I will not allow it to harm you," Mary insisted, hefting her Keyblade on a shoulder. "I will intervene if necessary."

Naminé paled, even more than normal, and took a few steps to the edge of the grounds, passing out of the magical sphere of influence. The eye-bat Heartless continued to ignore her.

"Hey!" she screamed at one, stamping her foot. Still, they circled overhead, making no move to strike. Naminé dug in the undergrowth at her feet, and found a half-rotten pine cone. She threw it, hitting one of the eye-bats square in its massive eye.

It continued to ignore her, and flew directly into a tree, sliding down the trunk in a tangle of wings and Heartless howls.

Naminé sighed. Useless. Couldn't even goad a Heartless to coming to her. Dejected, she shuffled back into the magical protection surrounding the Pines' estate.

"Why the long face, Naminé?"

"I… couldn't even get its attention. It's like I'm not much more than a shadow."

"Quite true, but do you know what else they say about shadows?" Mary asked, quirking an eyebrow. "If someone has one at their back, they will never, ever be able to shake it off."

"A shadow also can deal no damage."

Mary smiled, flipping her Keyblade in her hand so the hilt faced Naminé. "Mayhaps, yet I have met some rare specimens that have teeth of their own. Only if you wish it, child. My tutelage will be long and difficult."

"You're not just going to make me a Keyblade wielder and throw me into battle?"

"What… what imbecile in their right mind would do such a thing? Firstly, I would never allow someone under seventeen to even consider seeing battle and secondly, traditional training is seven years from acolyte to-"

Naminé laughed, and gently took the handle, feeling warmth within her. "You might want to have a few words with our current crop of… imbeciles, then."

Mary flipped her Keyblade around, attaching it directly to a hook on the back of her armor, instead of dismissing it like Naminé had seen other Keyblade wielders do.

"What other damage must I undo?" Mary sighed out. "No matter, I'll sort all of that out afterwards. Cannot make steps forward when a foe such as this is on the horizon. Now, Naminé, I do want you sitting this out. But you will not be helpless, you hear me? You are to practice summoning and dismissing your Keyblade until it is second nature. No pupil of mine will be caught slouching, you hear me?"

"Yes, Master Mary, ma'am!"

* * *

"Explain your issues, child." Mary crossed her arms, looking down at Stan, dejected and away from the rest of the group huddled around the campfire, excitedly talking about all the modifications they'd made on the Pines' home. Mary smiled, looking at her new charge talking excitedly with a blonde girl, snuggling in a sweater with a llama on it on one side, and Kairi on the other. Once this ordeal was over with, she'd find her way to a good spot back in the Oceans Between to set up a proper school.

That near-abandoned town- Traverse was it?- was a perfect candidate. The abandoned mansion that had served as the portal's pathway had plenty of spacious rooms for a library, dormitories, and classrooms, from what little she saw, and it faced an impressive and unused open courtyard Mary could already picture filled with students sparring. It certainly didn't hurt that the architecture reminded her a little of Daybreak Town.

"Child? Lady, that's a new one." Stan grunted, and downed a canned beverage, before setting it back on the armrest of his chair. Mary sighed, mildly disgusted with herself, and tapped the can, chilling it with ice magic.

She might have refilled her mana back in Traverse Town, but with the darkness here, she was on just her current charge until they left this place.

"I may not look it, but I can guarantee I am your elder. Thus, child."

"Lady, you'd have to be at least eighty or ninety to-" Stan started, before seeing the woman's sharp glare.

"Try multiplying said estimate."

"By what?"

"An exponent."

Stan gulped. "Okay, fine, you have earned the right to call me a child. What's the difference?"

"I have been informed that we're attempting to rescue your twin brother. Yet here you are, being… a curmudgeon. Care to explain yourself?"

Stan looked away from Mary and grunted. "Whole problem was his friggin' fault in the first place."

"Oh? Is your brother Bill Cipher perhaps?"

"Ugh, no."

"Then this problem is not your brother's fault," Mary said, matter-of-factly, putting hands on her hips.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, 'cause we're all gonna die."

"You would all perish from something as simple as starvation once all the food in this contained bubble of a town runs dry as well, wouldn't you think?"

"Lady, look, this ain't my town. I'm not even from stinkin' Oregon."

"And neither are your niece and nephew, yet, here they are."

"Don't bring 'em into this."

"I didn't have to, they did that themselves. They all did. Now, you can sit here by yourself, or you can come by the fire where it's warm and join them for supper. Your choice, for after everyone rests for a few hours, we are moving this house to the Pyramid where Chiper lies, with you in it or not."

"That a threat, lady?" Stan grumbled.

"It certainly can be. Now, I daresay, I smell sausages. Can't fight on empty bellies, can we now?"

* * *

Some of the smaller details I went out of my way to point out in earlier chapters are starting to come to fruition, first there's the "can't curse in Muppet world" bit, and now "Lea's arrest warrant for property damage in San Fransokyo" alllll the way back from chapter 2.

I don't want to say what some of the other foreshadowing bits are yet, but I wonder if any of you can pick out things I went out of my way to mention...? :D


	27. full house

been making cosplay for animenext which is this coming week- i leave thursday so i may not have another chapter for another week. i'm running the kingdom hearts photoshoot on saturday afternoon so please let me know if you're attending!

i also have a beta reader who is really familiar with all the different properties found in the fic! so expect new chapters to be a bit slower as we go back and clean stuff up. once she's caught up, she'll be editing before new chapters hit. plz thank her, i know my work can be a disjointed mess sometimes.

* * *

"What it means is… Prompto, you could walk right in a nest of Heartless and just grab one." Demyx sighed and kicked a stray rock. "Not that I'd go and sic a kid on 'em. I might not have a heart but I'm not a straight up ass."

"So, what now?" Donald leaned against the Regalia, kicking the dirt, accidentally sending a magick-infused rock flying. He frowned, a feeling unfamiliar with a mouth in lieu of his beak. That was two things he couldn't get used to- the (admittedly tamped down) dark magic running through him and a human face. The less time he had to deal with either, the better.

"We move down to the far less appealing Option 2," Demyx replied. "We find a Heartless nest that isn't smack in the middle of a warzone and scare them into warping. Then follow them. I do a little darkness magic while in the portal," Demyx added, as he waved around his arms like an aggravated conductor miserably attempting to get a children's orchestra to pay attention, "and… **boom**. Back to that ode to botched barbery in the middle of the Corona woodlands."

"How're we even supposed to find a nest'a Heartless?" Goofy asked pensively. "So far, the only ones we've seen were the ones last night. Haven't spotted a single one in daylight."

"Where'd we find info on an angry beastie last time? Seems like this place has a pretty good setup in place for placing bills on annoying monsters already," Demyx said with a shrug. "Hey Specs, do we have to drive back to the city or is there a closer place to grab a list of bounties?"

Ignis sighed. "Ignis, **if you please**, Demyx." He pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up his face as he did so in a sign of irritation Demyx completely missed- or simply chose to ignore.

"You can't do that vworp-vworp thing and get yourself back to town?" Gloadio asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, sure, I could link up a portal back to the hotel, since I know where it is, but won't that be a bit odd?"

Noctis pulled a spear and leapt forward before disappearing and reappearing behind Demyx. "Not common, but not unheard of here, Mister Zombie."

"Showoff," Demyx muttered, before rolling his eyes and transporting himself back to Lestallum.

* * *

"You… are aware what a wild card does, are you not, Zexion?" Rudol blinked the crust from his eyes, startled awake by a frantic Ienzo and more composed Dilan, who'd led the trio of current and former Nobodies up to the room they'd given to the gambler.

"Ienzo," the teen muttered irritably.

"**Ienzo**. My sincerest apologies. I blame the sudden jolt awake… and not actually knowing your true name."

Ienzo softened a little. "Apology accepted, Rudol."

"By your frenzy, you have an emergency regarding the card. Was Sora located?"

Ienzo, Roxas and Xion nodded frantically. "He's on the world connected by Destiny Islands," Roxas explained. It wasn't worth the time to elaborate the complexities of the situation.

Rudol sat up, and brushed a hand through his short-cut hair. "Well… a wild card has no value of its own. An uneducated person would find something like that worthless. A smart person would know how to pair it with the rest of their hand."

"**Rudol**," Ienzo said sharply. "I know you do love your riddles and games. But Riku now has a timer counting up from negative 99 burned into his hand. We've been informed it's possible the timer hitting zero… might kill him."

"Oh?" Rudol asked, eyebrow raised. "As I said. It's a wild card. It can pair with anything… which means it **becomes **what it's paired with. How many people have been affected?"

"Sora and Riku," Xion piped in. "Though only Riku has the countdown."

"No, not just them, do you remember what Riku said? Both Vanitas and… the replica Riku…," Ienzo added, with a mild gulp rubbing the sore spot on his throat that had never truly gone away after recompletion, "were under their care as well. That's four."

"And a traditional hand of poker is?"

"Five?" Ienzo replied, with an uptick to his voice. He was never one for card games, especially gambling. "But that hardly answers our question. What is it supposed to **do**?"

"Ienzo, I am not making light of the situation. A wild card counts as anything else it's paired with. If you have two pairs of twos and two of Queen, what does the wild card become?"

Ienzo shrugged, while Xion and Roxas shook their heads, not knowing.

"It becomes a Queen," Dilan replied gruffly. "Then you have three queens, and two twos, giving yourself a queen-high full house. One of the better hands in Poker."

"So I cannot tell you what the card specifically will do," Rudol said, simply. "It will merely fill the hand to the best of its ability. Once the hand is formed, it is spent, and discarded. The nature of what magic it becomes is determined by what is around it. I apologize if I sounded coy."

Ienzo blinked a little, trying to process the information, before sighing. "So, it becomes the best possible magic to fill out a situation?"

Rudol nodded. "A wild card in ones' hand does not guarantee victory. After all, to that full house analogy, someone else may have a four-of-a-kind, an even better hand. It just enables the best possible outcome given whatever else it might be paired with. Mine works much the same."

Ienzo frowned. "I suppose that helps as much as possible, thank you Rudol. Please rest. We're leaving to go save Sora and Riku."

Rudol put the heel of his palm to an eye, rubbing out the crust, as the weight of Ienzo's words sank in. "Now?"

"Immediately."

"In five minutes. Enough time for me to put on something more presentable," Rudol insisted. "I might be able to provide more guidance seeing what that card's done."

Ienzo, Roxas, and Xion looked between each other. "We'll wait," Roxas said, speaking for the group. "But only five. We're on a timer."

* * *

"**Again**?" Roxas whined, looking up at Rudol, having shrunk to three fifths his size. He, Xion, and Ienzo all had, after Xion took Ienzo through a corridor straight to the tiny cave housing the portal they needed, Roxas following quickly behind with Rudol.

Xion looked the same as before, just Roxas's height, with pointed ears. Roxas at least felt like a living being this time, rather than a doll, his own proportions, if not his height, the same. And he had wings. That was okay. The green pallor he saw on his exposed hands less so, but at least it was skin and not felt.

But really, could the universe let him have his staggering five-foot-three stature for all of twenty minutes?

At least he wasn't the worst one off this time, smirking silently as Ienzo tried to maneuver his new limbs.

"I've heard of having two left feet, but this is simply ridiculous," Ienzo muttered, getting accustomed to his hooves. "What am I, a satyr?"

"**Centaur**, close enough," Rudol said with a light chuckle. "Though, I worry it is I that will stick out like a sore thumb. None of you know the spell of glamour that altered you all so?"

Xion shook her head, as she gingerly touched her pointed ears. "If anyone asks, you're just an elf with gigantism. Your mommy doesn't talk about it," she added with a small smile.

"Fair enough," Rudol said, looking around at the cavescape around them. "Strange, though. I don't think I can read a word of text here."

* * *

Vanitas blinked crust from his eyes, pulling off the bronze-colored coins he'd forgotten about, hearing unfamiliar snoring. His lion was curled protectively around Sora next to him, loudly huffing in its sleep. Sora, ever the 'dignified' teen, was sprawled out enough that a foot had crept all the way onto Vanitas's futon, another arm shoved deep in the lion's beginnings of a mane. Vanitas rose to sit upright, Flood disturbed off his own pillow. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Flood wiggled its way onto Vanitas's lap as he heard a loud thud.

His lion had dematerialized and Sora had thunked back onto his own futon, jolting himself awake.

"I didn't take it, I SWEAR!" Sora shouted, as he bolted upright, his own coins flinging off, one hitting Flood in the side of the face.

Flood chitter-laughed at him, Sora's bedhead as bad as Vanitas's was. Vanitas gave his Unversed extra chin scratches for the schadenfreude.

"Oh, right. Josh's house," Sora said with relief, as he blinked and looked around their makeshift quarters. "Thanks again, Vanitas, I guess I needed the snuggle buddy. I'm so used to sleeping with Donald and Goofy in a pile on our ship now… I dunno. Maybe I don't do so well alone."

"You 'n me both," Vanitas said, keeping himself distracted by giving Flood attention.

Sora blinked twice. "Hey, Vanitas, um. Might be weird, but can you look up for me for a sec?"

"Uh, yeah, really weird," Vanitas replied, annoyed, though he did as Sora asked.

Sora audibly gasped. "Holy cow."

"Holy cow **what**?" Now, Vanitas was concerned. He watched as Sora fished around for his Gummiphone, shoving it in Vanitas's face and flipping the camera function to selfie.

Vanitas stared at his reflection for a few moments. It wasn't as though anything was different from-

His eyes.

Vanitas gingerly touched his cheek, just below his iris, bringing the phone closer, just to be sure.

He blinked a few times, to confirm again what he was seeing, before looking down at Flood, solid crystalline red eyes looking back up at its master.

"I… guess we match now, huh?"

* * *

Vanitas spent a solid five minutes admiring the new color of his eyes- red, just like his Unversed, why had he never considered he'd had the same affect to his eyes the other Xehanort possessed people did he'd never even considered- before he and Sora heard a door slide and feet on the tatami. Vanitas dropped Sora's phone, and opened his shoji screen a little, curious. Uriel, with sopping wet hair, was walking from the bath back downstairs.

"What are you doing up?" she hissed, as she flicked her hair back, drying it instantly with magic before looking at her fingernails. "Oh dear, forgot to grow them back out," she added, mildly annoyed with herself. In a moment, her nails grew a half inch as she inspected them. "Good enough," she muttered to herself.

"Slept enough, I guess," Vanitas said, dryly. "Why, is it three AM or something?"

"Six. And Tomo and Joshua are both on an errand."

Sora groaned behind Vanitas. "Well, I guess it's no use going back to bed," he whined, before frowning. "Hey, since its early, I guess I gotta train you. I am your new mmmma-tacher after all," Sora said, as pensively as the happy go lucky teenager was able.

"Teacher," Vanitas confirmed with a snort. Vanitas would have a master no longer. His eyes were proof of that.

* * *

Butler was hallway on his way to shoving his irritated suit-wearing charge into the arcade by force when Artemis was spared from the indignity by the sound of a loud ringtone. Vanitas blushed olive as he pulled his Gummiphone from his pocket.

"…Roxas?" he asked, slightly concerned, wings abuzz. "Oh wow… that was fast."

Aqua looked up at Ventus, hovering nervously a foot or so off the ground. "Roxas's group arrived already?" Ventus nodded, before pressing a hand to his other ear to block out the peanut gallery. "Um… can I see where the portal exited to from where I am? Oh… yeah. Can't see you but I see the park right under that outcropping, want us to come get you?"

Ventus heard an exceptionally audible sigh from behind him. "Roof color? It's um… it's pink. Why? Yeah, we're at an arcade. How do you- there's a zoom on the cameras? Huh that's cool to…"

Ventus was startled into dropping his phone as a pair of dark corridors materialized in front of them. Reflexively, Aqua drew her Keyblade, dismissing it with an embarrassed bow as Xion exited one portal, dragging a centaur weak on his hooves behind her.

"Hello Aqua!" Xion said cheerfully. "And… Ventus?" she added, looking at the embarrassed sprite who had just landed back on solid ground to pick up the Gummiphone he'd dropped in shock. "Roxas looks just like you."

As if on cue, Roxas exited the portal next to Xion's, dragging an adult human male out with him, who looked visibly relieved. "Thank goodness, I was worried I was ill-dressed for the occasion," Rudol said in jest, nodding to Butler, as the two Replica bound Nobodies closed their corridors behind them.

"Zeee-nzo?" Terra asked, looking confused at the centaur, switching to his correct name halfway through.

"Terra?" Ienzo asked back, surprised he head the young man's voice come from the black-scaled lizard, squat, square, and wearing Terra's clothing.

"Some of us changed more than others," Aqua said with a shrug. "Now, I guess we wait for Donald, Goofy and Demyx's team. Hopefully Isa's as well, though it's unlikely."

* * *

"I wasn't expecting this many people here this early," Sora said, surprised, as they walked to the Scramble.

"Joshua did mention this is the busiest place in the city, makes sense," Vanitas said. He was still shocked that Uriel had just… let them go off to explore on their own, even handing them a key and some money, in case they wanted breakfast or coffee. It wasn't as though they could wander that far, though. Leaving Shibuya wasn't possible without Joshua's quite literal blessing.

Even then, the leash was wide. The angel hadn't given orders other than to come back if called.

Sora spied some errant Noise, motioning to Vanitas to follow, and they dove headfirst inside.

"Well, this was smart," Vanitas grumbled, noting two penguin graffiti animals and a lack of Sora.

"You already know how to use a Keyblade." Sora sat down on the deserted curb in the Noise space, keeping an eye on the porcupine at the far end of the pocket dimension. He'd use some Stop magic if it got close.

"Some teacher you are," Vanitas grumbled as he rolled his eyes, grabbing Flood from lunging out and ending the fight for him.

"Actually, so long as one of us is on each plane, we can be together."

"Yeah, but doesn't that work if there's, y'know, more than two of us?"

"Flood doesn't count?" Sora asked, genuinely.

Vanitas looked at the whining creature he was holding by the scruff. "Flood, go to where Sora is," he ordered at it, and it vanished.

"Oof," Sora whined. "Hey buddy, think you can stay here by yourself a bit?"

Vanitas heard Flood chitter.

"You can eat that Porcupine right there," Sora said, pleading. Vanitas snorted. Sora was pleading with an **Unversed**. Vanitas didn't know if that was funny, sad, or a bit of both; Sora, in a way was indirectly pleading with **him**.

Flood chirped loudly, and Vanitas blinked the surprise from his eyes as Sora stood before him. "Well, now we know Flood does count as his own person," Sora said with a smile. "or Noise, at least for the purposes of covering the split dimension thing."

Vanitas just rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and called forth his new blade again.

With a clinking sound, he felt it in his hands, if only barely. "Thing's so light I'm gonna break it."

"You're not gonna break it," Sora replied, flicking his own fingers, materializing his own Keyblade. Oddly, it wasn't the simple, sleek metal key with a keychain resembling King Mickey's face, but an even more delicate looking tower with wirework, wine bottles, and a detailed mouse where the 'key' part of the blade should be. "I fight with this one when I need more reach and magic power."

"You have more than one Keyblade?" Vanitas asked incredulously, lazily sidestepping an oncoming penguin. The Noise were hardly worth worrying about- it really was just an opportunity to practice in private.

"No, but Roxas has two," Sora said, shrugging. "I just swap out the keychain and the blade changes with it."

Vanitas felt like he'd been hit by a Gummiship. "That's why those three kept fighting me with different Keyblades. And you, too."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind," Vanitas muttered. "So what, I just go and buy a keychain from one of the tourist shops and boom, new Keyblade form?"

Sora shook his head. "Tried that. No. It's gotta be something infused with strong magic. Like, this keychain is a copy of the book my friend used to learn how to cook. It was super important to him, and that storage of feelings makes for some powerful magic. Kinda like your Unversed, I guess."

"So why is-" Vanitas started, looking down at his own blade's keychain, an empty heart with only a single piece filled in. He knew he'd seen something like it before.

Ventus had the other half. Of course.

"So? You want to show me how you hold your Keyblade?" Sora asked, as he crouched slightly forward into a two-handed stance. Vanitas rolled his arm, flicking the blade out one handed. He was genuinely worried he would fling it forward into Sora's face, the blade was so light.

"Okay… closer to Riku's stance, then," Sora muttered. He shuffled through his pins. Thankful Flood was still on the other side of the dimension, he summoned a few weak Noise of his own from a Reaper pin.

"Your form?" Sora asked.

Vanitas laughed and shook his head. This kid, basically his age, really was trying to go through with teaching Vanitas how to use a Keyblade- a skill he quite literally knew since birth.

Vanitas lazily, with almost no power at all, stepped forward to slice at a graffiti fox. He almost crashed into the far wall of the liminal space, twisting his body against the invisible barrier at the last minute to land on his feet like a cat.

He stared down at the thing. Void Gear had been so heavy, he'd always need to use his whole body to fight by sheer weight and momentum, even the small amount of time he'd wielded the X-blade was much the same. This thing- this light, delicate little **thing**\- this… Found Memories… needed finesse.

Maybe there was still much to learn.

* * *

Demyx dumped a small stack of bounty papers on the ground, flopping next to it. "They really don't give a Dusk's ass about me ripping open corridors here," Demyx said, a bit surprised.

"Told you," Noctis replied, sifting through the papers. "So, what are we looking for?"

"I told him anything with yellow eyes, bonus if it hangs out in packs. Only Shadows- the little guys we ran into last night- are all black, so their colors and patterning don't help us much. I wish these things had photos, though."

Prompto hugged his camera strapped around his neck. "When most civilians are running from a thing that's going to, y'know, **kill them**, their first thought isn't usually, 'I gotta take a photo!', yeah?"

Demyx snorted a little. "Fair."

"How're we supposed to tell what's a native creature and what's a heartless from these?" Goofy asked, before answering his own question. "Whelp, looks promising. Donald?" Goofy shuffled the paper over to Donald to look. An almost cutesy scratching of a small tower of what looked like Shadows was on the bill in question, somewhere near a crater north of Lestallum.

"It's a stab in the dark regardless," Donald said, as Demyx groaned. "And the bad pun wasn't on purpose!"

* * *

Ignis had long disappeared from sight, driving the Regalia down the main roadways, while Demyx and Prompto, slower but able to cut over far rougher terrain, rode chocobo-back side by side to their destination. Goofy could have taken the other chocobo, to let the four locals plus Donald squeeze into the car, but Prompto insisted. Apperantly, he loved the birds and seemed much happier barreling through the world on one's back than squashed in the backseat of a luxury vehicle.

Or… perhaps he just wanted to talk.

"Errr, Demyx?"

"What's up, kid?"

"Kid? Hey, I'm not much older than you… right?"

"How old you think I am?" Demyx asked, as he gently guided his bird to jump, avoiding rough brush below them.

"Ummmm… twenty… two?"

"Try adding a few zeroes."

"What? No way."

"Being a demon'll do that to you."

Another few minutes of silence. Demyx almost had half a mind to play some music off his Gummiphone to sing with to break up the monotony, before Prompto piped up again.

"Were… um…"

"Use your words, Prompto," Demyx said, focusing on the lack of trail. He'd missed riding. Maybe after the whole debacle died down he'd go to Wonderland with Isa and let the blue-haired beanpole convince the Queen of Hearts to let him jockey once in a while.

"Well, it's kinda personal."

"I don't have any emotions, you can't exactly insult me."

"How'd it happen? Were you experimented on?"

Demyx blinked a few times. Not even Xehanort had asked him how he was a Nobody. He'd just been drifting aimlessly between worlds for centuries before Xigbar had found him and dragged him back to the shelled remains of Radiant Garden. It was hard enough to even remember what his life had been like as a human at all.

"I remember a war," Demyx admitted. "A huge one. It almost destroyed the world, er, our world. This one had already broken off from the Great World before then, I don't think it would have been affected but… heck if I know." Demyx was rambling, trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Sorry," Demyx admitted, after a few moments of silence broken up by the crunching of brush underfoot. "Nobody's ever… actually asked me how it happened. There's only really two ways to get like this though. If a Heartless or Nobody rips out your heart, the body left behind, if the will is strong enough can become one, or, yes, it can be extracted by… erm, scientific means. Some of the other self-aware Nobodies I knew were like that, including a few searching for our friends right now on other worlds. If I were experimented on, though, it was so long ago I couldn't even remember it if I tried, and I was gathered up by a group of experimented former humans after their little test trials were done. They'd even experimented on a **kid**. Couldn't have been older than six."

Prompto dug a hand to his shirt, clutching his own heart. "You said I was like those pink things. I… can't remember much of my own childhood but I remember a big science facility… and demons. Lots of them. But… I've got a heart. I can feel it."

"Losing your heart doesn't mean your actual physical heart is gone. It's your ability to feel, to commiserate, to be compassionate."

"Well, you're not a jerk."

"I'm good at faking it. And feelings aren't all the good ones. It's hard to feel sad or angry too. It's just… empty. It's freeing and terrifying all at once."

Prompto looked incredulous. "Isn't being terrified an emotion too?"

"Sure, and I'm just as good at faking that."

"I… don't think you're faking, Demyx, not really." Prompto kicked his chocobo lightly to get her to pick up some speed, passing his traveling companion. "Don't think I'm faking, either," he muttered under his breath.


	28. weirdmageddon 3

"Naminé, I daresay, you cannot do anything on a poor night's sleep. You may be no child, but a teenager needs just as much rest. Nobody or human," Mary Poppins said, lightly squatting down next to Naminé, focused on her hand and the soft glow emanating in a stave shape to each side.

"I… but I almost have it."

Mary smiled, watching her new apprentice's attempt. "That you do. But be mindful, the dark magic in this place may likely make it so you cannot- well. Never say never, as it were."

Naminé's arm fell with a loud thud as her key clattered to the floor. Gingerly, she picked up the glowing thing as the ambient light magic binding around it began to fade.

"It… it's a giant colored pencil," Naminé said laughing. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, except…" Namine scratched the side of her head as she held the Keyblade close. It was indeed a giant sky-blue colored pencil- comical, even, with a large shaving on the top curling around in an intricate tearaway to make the 'key' part of the blade. Oddly, the pencil had an eraser on the back end, and, when Naminé touched it, it felt just as rubbery as a real eraser. Touching the pencil tip with her skin left no marks, but such was the same with real colored pencils. The true test was if she could mark a nail.

Naminé pressed her thumbnail on the point, and dragged it across. The point didn't seem to waver, or lose form, yet her nail was marked bright blue.

The keychain at the hilt- on the metal part connecting the eraser to the pencil and not on the eraser itself- stretched down on a colored braided cord to a small blank sketchbook and single blue colored pencil, tied into the ribbon. Both seemed functional.

"it looks… so silly," Naminé said, turning it over in her hands. "Like a novelty toy they sell at the Twilight Town Equinox festival."

"Some Keyblades look refined, some are simple metal. Others are a disturbing cacophony," Mary said gently, flicking her own black wrought-iron blade to life before her. "Some even change over time, as we do." From her pocket, she pulled out a small keychain, a wood triangle-esque object without the points, with a stylized X emblazoned on it.

"The Nobody's symbol…?" Naminé asked curiously.

"I suppose it's been repurposed, then, but no, not when I received this. This was my husband's favorite pick. When it had worn down too much, he fashioned it into a pendant for me. I was the only one from my house who couldn't wield a Keyblade, back when every well-heeled family sent their children off to train. At least, not until I found a rusted blade left in the street and attached my pendant to it."

Mary unhooked the parrot-head keychain off her blade and snapped the carabiner of the wooden pick on. In a burst of light, the weapon altered its shape, settling into a Keyblade that also seemed to be a functional stringed instrument. "Her name, her real name, is Forever-In-Tune," Mary said, strumming its three strings to a pleasant sound. "It is exactly as its namesake suggests, and it plays a melody as it strikes. No Keyblade is truly silly, no matter how odd or ostentatious they may be. Because to say the blade is silly means that the wielder is. And you, my dear Naminé, are not to be taken lightly. That weapon is your heart laid bare. Even if you find other keychains that will work with your blade, that is its true form, and true name. And that form and name are yours."

"It's called…" Naminé started, staring at the blade in the pitch darkness from the lack of electricity. "She's called Drawing Blanks."

* * *

"Shouldn't you be gettin' some shut-eye, Master Mary?"

Mary carefully and gracefully walked the rooftop, gently seating herself next to the other Keyblade Master.

"Shouldn't you, Master Mickey? I daresay, of the five wielders here, self included, you are the only other Master, no?"

"True," he replied, nodding, watching as the Berserker Nobodies shifted their patrols to keep an eye on the house, just in case the runes failed. "However, the dark magics here are fuelin' three of our most seasoned fighters. 'N to top it off, Kairi's a Princess of Heart. Uncorrupted, 'n wicked smart to boot, ha-ha!"

"She… she's the one who helped the Nobodies remember, yes?"

Mickey nodded, pulling his knees to his chest. He felt too long, like taffy pulled to its limit. The house vibrated under them as the hillbilly, Lea, or someone else with a hacksaw or magic was going to town on the Pine's abode. "And your new protégé is her Nobody."

"I was made aware, yes. Though as I understand it, neither she nor the other redhead never received any formal training in actual Keyblade combat. And you abandoned yours. I expect all of you to actually buckle down and take a course with me when this is all over. I do believe I've located a suitable place for a school. Attendance may not be mandatory, but be you king or pauper, I **strongly **suggest you consider. Good night, Master Mickey," Mary said, sharply with eyes piercing like daggers as she rode back inside the house on a tiny ball of Aero.

Mickey followed her back inside with the turning of his head before wobbling up on too-long legs to crawl back into the attic through the stained glass window.

"She's scarier 'n Donald," Mickey hissed to himself.

* * *

"Power to left whozimawhatzit!" McGucket, the crazy-genius of an old coot called out as the house rocked to life. Kairi and Mickey had already tethered themselves up to the roof's flagpole, ready to cast whatever magic they could, while Lea and Isa were keeping the old burner stoked as their main source of power, steam- fire from the former, and water, the latter. The magical creatures and human residents all worked in in insane level of precision Mary hadn't seen in… centuries, likely. Not since just before the Keyblade war tore their society apart. She opened the window to the rear of the home, parrot keychain back on her blade and the business end of her weapon facing outwards, the lamp part ready to shoot a lick of fire out the gum-and-shoestring mechanical house's backside should push come to shove.

"What… what am I to do?" Naminé had asked her.

"The purple girl you met yesterday, he name was Priscilla, yes?"

"Pacifica."

"Oh, dear, I'm usually not quite so bad with names, but there are many new people here. Pacifica. She's a local, yes? Not a fighter, and no magic whatsoever? With nails like hers, I doubt she's done a lick of housework, to boot. If she fights, you can too. Not with your Keyblade, mind, but desperate times… if she can help in some small way, that is how you help, too."

Naminé nodded. And this was how she was situated, roped up to the flagpole herself, facing the wrong way, with a bucket of stones from the yard before the shack had lurched to life. The Heartless wouldn't harm her. But that didn't mean she wouldn't give them the same courtesy.

* * *

The shack lurched and flung itself down to the center of Gravity Falls on unstable but unbroken legs- one made from a patched combo of a telephone pole and a small crane, while the other was duct tape and Nobody-fire welded scrap metal. Between the wards, unicorn hair, and Naminé's occasional rock-chuck at a stray bat Heartless, the trip downtown was essentially combat free.

That was, of course, until whoever controlled the arm made from a giant dinosaur's head trapped in amber- Vexen's crazy suggestion once he saw they were atop a dig site- decided to shove it straight through the wall of Cipher's floating pyramid. So much for using the doorbell to negotiate, Naminé thought, as the arm pulled back, spraying golden shrapnel everywhere, both amber and the odd material of the eldritch structure. With that, any opportunity to talk went out the now literal window- Cipher's army of minions poured from the opening and began to charge the mech, screaming, gnashing, and gnawing all the while.

Naminé sighed, and gripped her bucket of rocks tighter, the mech spinning like a top, with her at ground zero for centripetal forces.

* * *

It wasn't even a fight; it was hardly what anyone would call a scuttle. With the last of Cipher's minions flung into a nearby mountain, all that was left was their golden master.

A ragged man stumbled out to the opening, eyes bloodshot but just as much full of life.

Ford was not only alive, but no longer a statue.

"Kids? Kids!" Ford shouted as loud as he could. With the darkness magic stagnating any windy air that should have been this high up, his voice was loud and clear. Naminé felt the world under her shift as the mech adjusted itself to give Ford a thumb's up with the non-dino hand.

"Cipher can't leave the city limits! It's like some kind of magic… a weirdness bubble… keeping all of us locked inside! He's trying to torture me for the information to break it, but… I'd die before he pries it from me."

The shack made a high pitched whine before a voice shuddered into the intercom. "Heya, Cipher. I knew Ford when I was just a tot. I'm sure you've realized by now he ain't bluffin'. He'll never tell ya, and sorry to say, I don't think anyone here knows exactly how that stuff works 'side's him."

Mickey might have been right- but Vexen was with them, and if there was anyone who could analyze the portals to oblivion it was-

The **portal**. There was a way out, into not just the wider world, but many, many worlds. And it was visible from the stained glass window in the attic, if you knew to look.

If Cipher was trying to leave Gravity Falls, they just walked the answer right to him.

* * *

"Huh, so torturing you's no good, is it?" Cipher floated casually out of his new home, twirling a black cane as nonchalantly as an eldritch horror surveying its domain could. Without warning, he expanded about two-stories in size, screaming with laughter. "You could've had the universe with me, Ford. Now I'll just have to take your family and squeeze 'em till you talk. How's that sound, partner?"

"Why you-" Ford screamed, enraged, as Bill Cipher snapped the fingers on his free hand, turning him back to gold and flicked him back inside the pyramid.

"Eh-eh-eh. No more chitchat from the peanuts in the gallery. Don't want to shell 'n munch on you, do we now?" Bill turned his attention back to the ramshackle mech in front of him, slamming a giant fist down onto the roof.

Naminé screamed, hearing an equal one from the other side of the flagpole. For a brief flash, she felt Kairi's fear before it dissipated.

Cipher's fist had bounced harmlessly off an invisible barrier.

Lea's wards and the unicorn hair wards were still holding. Some Nobodies had free passage… but Bill was rejected by both rune and unicorn. He couldn't touch them.

Bill screamed, loud, bestial, but tampered down to bearable levels by the warding, now glowing pink in sigils bright and friendly around the house and Naminé.

Emboldened, Naminé grabbed the largest rock from her pail, chucking it as hard as her untrained arm could, smacking Cipher in the center of his massive looming eye.

To be fair, it was like hitting the side of a barn, but she took the small victory as Cipher screamed again, clutching at the pain before the mech's free hand reached in and ripped his eye clean out.

Black , bloodless, static poured from the gaping hole. Naminé spared it a momentary glance, staring down into the maw of madness before she heard an electric crackle, grabbed from behind.

When she coughed again, Vexen settled her on the polished floor inside Cipher's domain. Lea, his Assassins, Isa, Kairi, and Mickey materialized behind, as they all watched the humans paratroop down into the opening on makeshift chutes, Mary Poppins guiding them with her wind magic and keyblade in its umbrella form.

With gentle thuds, a small army of them land together at the shattered entrance, the remaining people back inside the house acting as distraction to a blind and screaming Cipher, his massive eyeball bouncing away down the main road on a tether of black static. It would have been humorous if it weren't for his unsettling howls, no longer blocked by the wards around the house.

Or the giant throne of humans, petrified in agony before them. Most wee petrified the standard way, something Esuna could quickly cure without a fuss (though the amount of mana needed on an entire large town was another story), and a few, like Ford, his golden body chucked on an armrest, were solid metal.

Naminé wasn't sure what she was doing when she walked breathlessly to the mass of stone and gold, but something compelled her to do so. The voice of her Keyblade perhaps? Her conscience? Lea was warning her not to get too close, it was probably a trap, but she didn't care, placing her hand on the stone arm of what looked to be a teenage boy at the base of the mass.

"We'll fix you," she whispered at him, not sure how.

The room reverberating with a cracking sound, as the throne began to collapse. A cacophony of Aerogas erupted from the mages behind her as they gently lowered the town's residents, all freed from their spell simultaneously to the polished floor below.

Naminé stared dumbstruck at her hand as the few paratroopers ran to family. Dipper and Mabel shrieked as they ran and tackle-hugged Ford, while Wendy was slung over shoulder by a burly redhead.

Only Stan himself held back, kicking the floor and grumbling audibly.

A small, blondish- white haired kid stumbled loose from the pack, quickly wrapped up in Kairi's arms. "Gideon! I can't thank you enough. You were so brave."

"I… shoot, well, guess I was, sweetcheeks," the kid replied, embarrassed. "I ain't making a habit of it, though, you hear me?"

Ford broke off, the older man nodding brusquely to Mickey as he passed, pulling the awkward old hillbilly McGucket into a tight embrace. "Saw the ride. That's your doing, isn't it, Fiddleford?"

"Eeeeyup," McGucket replied, barely audible, an impressive feat given the old man's penchant for yelling at the top of his lungs.

"You saved my life. All our lives."

"Eeeyup."

"I'm pretty certain I'll never be able to repay you."

"Not an ice cube's chance in hell," McGucket said, shaking his head. "Don't mean I don't forgive ya. Just stop bein' such a hard-headed idjit."

Ford squeezed him one more time; Naminé was sure there was some history there between the two older gentlemen, but her chained connection to any of the people of this world was tenuous at best, only connected at all by Sora to Riku to Mickey to Ford. A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend led to just the barest sense of tapping into memory. And then there was a step further from Ford to anyone he knew. Even connecting Dipper or Mabel would be five links down the chain, something she'd never even considered, yet alone attempted.

Not that she ever would- she swore off messing with people's memories years ago. Nothing good came of it, only pain, confusion, and regret.

Stan gruffly and quickly acknowledged his brother, before Ford addressed the crowd.

"Bill… as I know it, he has just one weakness. A prophecy. Anyone have something to write with?"

The crowd of onlookers murmured as Naminé drew her Keyblade. "Will this do?"

Vexen smiled and golf clapped quietly.

"I know what that is, and I am not touching it with my bare hands, if you don't mind," Ford said sheepishly, putting on a pair of six-fingered gloves. "Last thing I need is one of those, not that I'm in any way worthy," he added under his breath. Naminé looked to her new master, who nodded politely to her, before handing it to Ford, hilt first.

Ford dragged the giant blue pencil across the ground, leaving clean, visible marks but not dulling the point of the Keyblade in any way. "When I first moved to Gravity Falls, I saw this etched in a cave under what's now my house. Or **was**, given its sudden relocation. I thought it was silly graffiti at first, but I've since reconsidered. It's a prophecy. Ten residents of this town, gathered in force to banish Bill from whence he came."

"You said 'whence'," a black haired teen with a bleeding-heart emblazoned hoodie smirked.

"Can it, Robbie," Wendy hissed.

"Actually, he should do no such thing," Ford commented, revealing the symbol he'd just drawn. "He's one of the ten."

The symbol was an exact match of his hoodie.

"Spoooopy," Robbie muttered, sarcastically. "Congrats on looking at my shirt."

Ford held up his cell phone. "I took a picture of that rock face last week, runt."

"Well holy-" Robbie started, before Wendy kneed him.

"Kids," she reminded him, as Robbie stood on his space. The floor glowed, if only a little. Someone untrained in magic might even attribute it to the polished floors reflecting Cipher's eerie taste in interior decorating and lighting choices.

Naminé may not know much magic herself, but she was hardly untrained in its detection.

Ford continued to draw symbols, pointing out people to stand in places. Dipper gripped his hat, marked with a stylized pine tree, standing on the space meant for him. Soos, the janitor, had his symbol on the shirt he was wearing, while Mabel and Pacifica had theirs on their homemade sweaters. Homemade… even creepier. Whoever made the original cave drawings either had foresight to rival the strongest sages, or was a time traveler like… like **he **was.

McGucket, Wendy, and Gideon found spaces of their own on the marble, the sigil growing in intensity with each prophesized person who found their space and linked arms with their neighbors. Ford walked around, returning the Keyblade hilt-first when he finished drawing, before finding the space marked with a six-fingered hand. Naminé sheathed it away, happy to be of use even without any combat training.

All that was left was a space that looked like a fish chasing a food pellet.

A symbol that looked just like the one on Stan's red hat.

* * *

The building lurched, large whips of blue magic- not light magic or dark, but something wholly… new… sparked around them. To Naminé, it was suffocating. She couldn't imagine what it was like for anyone else from their worlds, all with some degree of affinity.

Naminé and the rest of those from the world outside were rocked to the ground, pinned by the ever increasing anti-magic circle. All they'd need would be for Stan to link in with them, and it would be complete.

"Come on, old man, I'll work for free for the last week of the summer. Under the table," Wendy called out to him.

"I'll, uh… I'll stay away from your stupid tourist trap," Robbie offered,

"I'll close my business competition for a good whole week," Gideon offered.

"Gideon, the police shut down your sham stage show last month," Dipper hissed at him. Gideon stuck his tongue out in response.

"Nice alliteration, bro!" Mabel cheered.

Ford grumbled. "Now's not the time. Stan, we need you."

"Then thank me."

"Then what?" Ford asked, thrown for a loop.

"Thank me. For savin' your sorry butt and pulling you out of the dimensional rift."

"Thank you? Stan, ripping open that portal's what helped bring Cipher over in the first-"

"Yeehaw, you two," McGucket cried out. "Now, see, if I can forgive ya for the crazy you caused here years ago, Ford, you can up and thank your brother. You'd've been stuck for the rest of your life drifting between dimensions, believe you-me."

Ford took a deep inhale, and held out his hand. Naminé felt something… odd. The link, weak spreading outbound from Ford to the rest of the people in this town, suddenly grew too immense, almost enough to cause her to black out from her spot on the ground.

"Thank you, Stan."

Stan grumbled, but stepped forward, the whipping of energy almost knocking the breath from Naminé's lungs. She saw Isa choke from a few feet away, also plastered to the floor and faring no better.

Stan grabbed Soos's hand, and reached for his brothers, glaring all the while.

And then Cipher, with the ripped crane that had been the mech-Shack's leg stormed in his home. The powerful gale of magic died immediately as Cipher, eye socket sparking with a newly formed eyeball, surveyed the space, howling like a banshee.

"That crane… came from off the Pine's property," Lea mumbled, just before passing out on the marble floor.


	29. heart, less

"Are they, perhaps, weakened by daylight?" Ignis said, back pressed to the Regalia, peeking his eyes over the trunk of the car at the literal tornado of Heartless whirling down the road, completely blocking their passage.

"Not on your life, Specs," Demyx hissed, gently bopping his chocobo on the head to get it to duck down. "You guys support us with those grenade things of yours. Goofy, defense. Donald, we're the best offense here." Demyx sighed loudly. "I haaaaate fighting but if we're getting off this rock we don't have a choice."

Donald nodded, calling forth his staff. It crackled with black miasma for a moment long enough to give Demyx the chance to see it before it glowed pleasantly in his fingers.

"Do anything stupid and I'll kill you myself," Demyx hissed at him. "Don't forget, I left my **remorse **at home."

"I've dealt with worse."

* * *

"Knees bent."

"Sora, I know my Keyblade kata."

"What's a kata?"

"I… uh," Vanitas started, rolling his eyes. "It's your form. How you move and swing. And while your style is… well, I can't say its ineffective, it can't be good for your back. You're right on the bend your knees bit, but…"

Vanitas grabbed Sora roughly- harder than he appreciated, but he understood his twin-of-sorts wasn't trying to hurt him- especially with a Keyblade again it seemed like some tiny amount of his physical power had returned.

"Back straight, shoulders back, left hand in a V on the back half of the hilt, there. Still a two-handed grip. Use your left for power and the right to steer it. You'll get more force and more control behind your swing. Go on, you made a Noise, give it a good thwack."

Sora's face turned three shades of embarrassed pink- oh how the turntables (or whatever that expression was- Sora couldn't remember). He grunted out a 'hyah!' and cleanly sliced his pin-made Noise in two, leaving the naturally-occuring one alone.

"I've been doing this as long as you were born, moron."

"Yeah, well, I…" Sora started, wanting to say "didn't have an actual teacher for this", but bit his tongue. "Nevermind."

"No, say what you were thinking."

"It's not like anyone actually taught me," Sora breathed out, head down.

"Yeah, well, given that, you've done a helluva job," Vanitas said, crossing his arms. "So, your turn. How do I deal with this lightweight toothpick?"

Sora smiled. "I never could do a one-handed grip, but on Neverland, there was a flying kid who fought with a balsa wood sword…"

"Peter Pan?" Vanitas asked, eye raised. "If you're cotton candy, that kid's a toothache."

"You know him?" Sora asked, stars in his eyes as he sidestepped a lame Noise attack.

"Not personally. Just through Ven's memories… and yours."

"Oh, right," Sora said a bit downcast. "Hey! When we're back, I'll take you. You should probably get coated in fairy dust anyway, so you can fly."

"What, so I can be a lil' light like your kiddie crew?"

"I mean… where else will you go?" Sora asked inquisitively, not realizing how deep the question would cut.

"Bah. Hard pass."

"Oh come on, my mom would take you in a heartbeat. She always wanted more kids. You said you could remember bits of your time with me. So I'm sure you know I'm right."

Vanitas sighed, and shifted his stance to match a memory that was and wasn't his. "Let's burn that bridge when we get to it."

Vanitas practiced a few lunges, satisfied. "So you're actually slightly observant of those around you. Thanks. For the suggestion. I have a lot more control this way."

Sore smiled. "Anytime. You wanna spar?"

"With you?" Vanitas asked, shoving an errant Noise away with his foot.

"I mean, fighting these guys is a bit one sided, right? I'll Cure you if I hurt you. Just say stop if you need a break and we will. I'll do the same."

Vanitas considered it for a moment. "Fine. Wait. You still have your magic."

"Saying the word stop doesn't just make me cast Stop," Sora replied, closing his eyes, and shaking his head. "And to keep it even I won't use anything but healing."

Vanitas responded by readying his blade. "Well prepare your mana because I'm about to kick your ass."

* * *

Demyx roared, sitar in hand as he strummed a chord calling as many of his Dancers to him that he could. The Demon Tower froze for a moment, spun counterclockwise, and split before rejoining, like his left and right eyes were seeing things out of synch with one another.

Demyx shook out his head and the Tower returned to normal- massive, angry, and swarming. Frowning, he ordered his attack, blasting music to keep his minions moving apace. One by one, they began ripping Shadows from the giant tower, filling the dusty road with Heartless shrieks. Demxy watched as a grenade, sparking with blue-gold electricity, was lobbed high over the roof of the car right into the center of the vortex, splitting it and regurgitating scads of the tiny beasts in a flash of jittering blue lightning.

"Flare!' Donald screamed, aiming his staff at the weakened vortex, shooting out his usual stream of sparklers before he gasped.

Demyx had been right; he really had taken too much darkness magic, filtered through the Nobody or otherwise.

Donald let go of his staff, but it was too late. Sparklers continued to pour out, draining him dry and at this rate…

"Donald, stop!" Demyx cried out, kicking the business end of his dropped staff away from the waning cyclone. "We're trying to corner these Heartless into ripping a portal open, not totally- oh no…"

Demyx flicked eyes back and forth between Donald, now an inch off the ground and crackling with black tendrils of magic, and the fleeing Heartless, opening up a portal away from the endless sparklers in the opposite direction. By the time they'd un-Darknessed Donald the Heartless would have long since scattered to the winds and-

"Prompto," Demyx yelled. "You trust me?"

"What?" Prompto responded, screaming over the din as he poked his head up from behind the rear door.

"Do. You. Trust. Me."

Prompto flinched at the question. "Enough."

"Well, I don't know if you're a real Nobody or not, kid, but I think you can handle the darkness just fine. You wanna keep that portal pried open for me?"

"I…**what**?"

"Stand in the portal and don't let it close. I promise. If you're anything like me, you might even command my armies. Do it now or we might just be stuck here permanently!"

Demyx squared up with his sitar. He didn't have any more time to spare with Donald continuing to rise, drunkenly possessed on power. If he waited much longer the not-currently-a-Duck was going to go full Heartless. And then where would he be?

Demyx inhaled again, eyeing the car from his peripheral vision as he saw the four locals start shifting out of view. There was nothing more he could do to keep the portal open now- it was going to be up to Prompto or not at all.

"Goofy, shield up, let's bash this idiot friend of yours."

* * *

Vanitas pirouetted out of the way of Sora bashing his blade down on his head, stopping when he realized he was using one of Aqua's signature dodges. Ventus's memories really had rubbed up with his when the two of them were stuck inside Sora.

It's not that he didn't like it- it was more the fact that anything good or happy he did have he couldn't attribute to himself. It was as if the only happy memories he possessed were from watching movies. Fantasy stories of other people's lives, and never his own.

Not that the last three or so days were bad. Far from it. Warm beds, good food, security. It was odd- not necessarily new, as he'd experienced it through Sora, but that was precisely it. It was Sora's. He was just along for the ride.

He'd always thought that if he was his own person, Sora's mother would not have treated him with anything resembling kindness. He was a freak, a face-thief.

Every little thing he did have was stolen or ripped from-

**Thwack**.

Sora got a solid hit on his off arm's shoulder, sending a surge of pain down into his hand. Sora quickly dismissed his Keyblade, worried, and Vanitas took the opportunity to jab Found Memories right in his chest, winding him and sending him to his knees, ready for another strikes despite what was almost certainly a broken arm.

"I yield!" Sora choked out.

Vanitas froze, noticing Sora's hands glow green. For just a moment, he considered bringing the Keyblade down on Sora's head, but swallowed the feeling, dismissing the blade.

Sora coughed a few times, and reached out to Vanitas. "I was pretty sure I broke something. I was going to heal you but you just kept going."

Vanitas frowned. "I didn't ask to stop."

Sora returned it with a trademarked pout. "You're really hurt, though. It's not like we're actually fighting. It's just practice."

Vanitas winced slightly as he shifted his weight. "Whatever."

"It's not 'whatever', Vanitas," Sora whined, reaching out to touch his shoulder. When Vanitas kept himself still, Sora saw it as acceptance and gently placed his hands down where he'd struck.

Relief was immediate.

Vanitas exhaled a strained breath he didn't realize he was holding as he shook out his healed arm. He watched Sora sit on the curb, eyes closed and breathing deeply.

Why wasn't he healing himself?

"Ummmm…" Vanitas started, shooing a Noise away from Sora with his Keyblade. "You're not dead, are you? Wait… stupid question."

"I'm **recharging**. Riku's the better mage. Cure saps me completely."

Vanitas suddenly felt very warm, and his shadow boiled a little. He gently pushed the coalescing puppy head back into his shadow with his heel as he swallowed down the guilt. "So… since I attacked you after you hit me, you've gotta wait with the pain?"

"Basically. It's only a few minutes, and you didn't hit me that hard," Sora replied, trying to be cheerful behind a slight wince.

"And now I feel like an ass," Vanitas said, flopping next to Sora on the concrete.

"You didn't know."

They sat quietly a few moments before Sora, who didn't really understand the concept of thinking in silence, spoke up.

"So what were you planning on doing when we went home, Vanitas?"

Vanitas shrugged. "Probably put myself at Ventus's mercy. I'm not even sure we could merge back into one person after all our time apart, or if he'd even want to. I don't think he'd be happy with my half of our memories."

"Your half?"

"He might have them, I don't know, but I think I'm the only one of us who remembers life before we were split. I- on my own- am roughly your age, but us- as a single person?- we're old. **Real **old."

"How old?"

"Old enough to know Demyx before he was a Nobody."

"Well didn't that happen like ten years ago?" Sora asked, color returning to his face as his hands glowed green. He cured himself, standing up and dusting off the flecks of concrete for another round.

Vanitas just laughed. "Some of 'em maybe. But no, not Myde. He 'n Ventus were part of the same Union."

Sora just looked puzzled, while Vanitas sighed, picking his blade back up for round two. "It's a long story. A **really **long story. How 'bout we beat the shit out of Coco and then I tell it? I'd rather explain when everyone's here so I don't have to waste my breath."

Sora nodded, grinning. "You're on."

* * *

Donald's eyes were glowing gold, now, and Demyx spat a curse under his breath.

**Time**.

They didn't have nearly enough, nor did Demyx have the ability to turn his back on Proto-Heartless Donald for even a moment to glance at the portal situation. He just had to trust that Prompto would hold open the door for them, so to speak.

He called over three Dancers- any more and he couldn't do more than general orders, and this fight needed exact precision. The goal was maiming, not murder.

"A concussion's our best bet," Goofy said, looking up at his friend spewing darkness everywhere. "You can drop him off at Ansem's castle on the way to Destiny Islands, can't'cha? He's got equipment for stabilizing people with darkness in 'em that shouldn't have it."

"Took the words from my mouth," Demyx replied back, strumming to order his minions. "We need to shake down Rudol anyway."

"Roger, roger," Goofy replied, before flinging his shield like a Frisbee right for the space between Donald's eyes.

"Sorry, Donald!" Goofy cried out as Donald took a few tumbles in midair, before righting himself and wailing out a rasped angry noise. "Uh-oh, I think I just made 'im mad…"

"Mad is good, it means he's still got his emotions," Demyx said, gritting his teeth. A finger caught in a string and Demyx knew he was probably bleeding on his beloved instrument.

Healing spells were definitely not his forte, and he didn't have time to waste recharging his mana over a cut fin-

"Waterboy!" Demyx felt the air warp to his left, and Noctis was an inch away from the neck of his instrument, a dark bottle uncorked, holding it out for him to take a swig from it without stopping what he was doing. "Potion. Should heal your hand."

"Are you nuts?" Demyx cried at him as Noctis shoved the flask in his face, forcing it down. It burned like fire but the blood certainly stopped leaking.

"No more than you are for asking Prompto to trust you," Noctis replied, mildly annoyed. "Don't worry, we're keeping it open. For now. But your weird-ass demons are still trying to make out with him."

And then he was gone. Demyx grinned, wiped the blood off Arpeggio with his free sleeve, and surged again with his melody.

They were going to do this.

* * *

"Fuck," Vanitas hissed. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

Something… he clearly did something to set this off. Sora was on all fours, with round spheres of gold for eyes, and darkness coming off in waves. When he'd ripped out his own heart, creating that Nobody from his and Ventus, and heartless from his and Vanitas's leftovers… it never fully pieced himself back together.

Just like Vanitas did, Sora had a trigger, and somehow he'd just pulled it.

And Sora- the dregs of Heartless left behind at least, was chasing after the lame little Noise that was keeping them tethered into the pocket dimension. Kill it, and they'd all rematerialize back in the real Shibuya, visible monstrosity and all.

Vanitas lightly danced around, corralling the confused little Noise away from Sora, and quickly realized something.

Sora, in shadow form, wasn't seeing Vanitas as a threat.

Odd, as the last time they'd fought in the Keyblade Graveyard, and Vanitas had actually been on the receiving end of it, Sora was merciless. He ignored Ventus's cries to stop, and tore straight for Vanitas's throat in a feral rage until the bloodlust died off and he returned to normal.

Now, it was an almost comical game of monkey-in-the-middle, and the poor little Noise was the monkey. When Sora lunged again, Vanitas grit his teeth and pulled his twin into a hug, flinging him gently on a shoulder.

That was odd. He could lift Sora. Maybe his strength was only sapped when trying to use it aggressively?

Right now, he wasn't exactly one to care. With his free hand, he re-summoned his Keyblade, and cleanly sliced the last Noise in two. With no enemies in sight, Sora calmed down immediately in Vanitas's arm, and the pocket dimension began to fade off.

Vanitas grit his teeth again, stretched out his wings, and prayed to Joshua that he could fly before the whole thing collapsed on them. As the last of it melted away, and the real, noisy city returned into focus, Vanitas found himself treading air an inch above the pavement, with a whiny, though complacent, heartless Sora cradled in his arms.

Flood squaked irritably on the ground, as a rushing businessman walked right through Vanitas and Sora. Vanitas shivered and hissed at his Unversed.

"Get on."

Flood scampered, latching itself to Vanitas's head as its master sighed.

"Wednesday morning taxi service. **Fun**. Let's find somewhere away from all these people, yeah, Sora?"

Sora chittered in his arms like a Heartless, and Vanitas stretched his wings, hoping he wouldn't pull one like Sora had done. He wasn't sure he could handle being touched to get it set in a cast, hypnotized or otherwise. With a few flaps, he landed on the roof of a highrise overlooking the scramble crossing, and gently deposited Sora on the glass. Flood jumped off, running little circles around Sora, the two chittering at each other as Sora shoved his butt in the air and head to the ground, like a dog trying to play.

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. Three days was all it took for Sora's subconscious to reclassify one of the most powerful Keyblade wielders and direct disciple of Xehanort from enemy to ally.

Vanitas scanned the skyline. The sky was a mix of pinks and blues, and a billboard cheerfully blinked 06:47AM at them. His stomach growled.

"C'mon, idiot, I want breakfast, and I can't drag a Heartless into a coffee shop."

Sora just chittered in reply. Vanitas frowned. The sounds were close enough to his own Unversed that he could sort of understand. Sora was hungry too, in not so many words.

"How do I put you back from attack dog to puppy?" Vanitas sighed out at no-one in particular.

Sora, however, took it as in invitation to tackle-hug Vanitas.

Vanitas froze, in dead panic. Sora was strong enough as it was, but his Heartless was a straight-up monster, limbs locked around, binding Vanitas's arms and pinning his wings against his back, to say nothing of the sudden emotional strain of being not just touched, but **confined**.

Vanitas lost focus, his breath coming in gasps, as panic overtook him and Flood expanded to triple its size in moments.

"Vanitas!"

Somewhere, Vanitas might have recognized that voice as Sora's- as the Heartless, now reverted and panicking himself- let go and tumbled backwards off the roof.

"Aaaah!" Sora screamed, as he grabbed for the ledge at the very last moment. The shriek snapped something in Vanitas, and he snarled, jumping forward, his wings extended. He leaned over the edge like a bird of prey, glancing down at a frightened, confused Sora, barely hanging on.

"Flap your wings, idiot!" was all Vanitas could bellow, as he grabbed Sora's free hand.

Sora's whole face went pink, as he calmed, and took two solid flaps, pushing himself upwards and back on the roof.

"Idiot," Vanitas hissed.

"Yep," Sora agreed, laughing hysterically from adrenaline and flopping backwards onto a still-giant Flood.

Sora's laughing died down to a whimper as Flood shrank underneath him, eventually wiggling out from behind to nest on Sora's stomach.

"I… I'm sorry," he finally said, just above a whisper. "For… being such a burden."

Vanitas shook his head. "No, you've calmed me down from more than… well way too many panic attacks. I owed you."

"You don't, Vanitas. You need time to heal."

"And you don't?" Vanitas asked, curiously, flopping backwards himself to stare up at the bright, nearly cloudless sky.

Sora frowned. "I mean… sure. But…"

"Even **I** wasn't ripped apart into a Heartless, Sora."

Sora began idly petting Flood. "You… kinda already are one though, right? I mean, you and Ven are sorta like Heartless and Nobody yourselves."

Vanitas couldn't really argue with that, even though he knew his other half had emotions while he still possessed reason.

"I… I'm sorry my id tackled you."

"I'm sorry I set you off in the first place."

Sora laughed again, almost knocking Flood off. "**You**? You didn't set me off. I did." Sora took a deep breath, holding out an open palm to the Unversed to sniff to let it know another localized Sora-based earthquake wasn't going to happen again. "It just… happens sometimes. There's no real reason, unless I'm just about to die. Other than that, it's random. And since you weren't close to killing me, well…"

Sora's statement was cut off by a bestial growl, as both boys looked to the other.

"Breakfast?" they asked each other, before laughing with the same face and voice while the billboard below blared a gentle tune, marking 7AM on the nose.

"We are so stupid," Vanitas hissed, wiping tears from his eyes. Whatever had hit him, maybe it was the timing, the perfect synchronization, or the juxtaposition of Sora almost falling off a skyscraper roof to complaints of mild hunger, it didn't matter. It was funny as hell, and for once, he wasn't laughing at someone, but **with **them.

"Yeah," Sora replied, sitting up, before scrunching up his face. "Wait, though."

"What, you need me to help you land?" Vanitas asked, peering down at the city of ants below.

"I mean, yeah, I'll take the help but…" Sora replied, fishing around in his waist pouch for something. His phone. "Could've sworn I got a text."

"Uriel calling us home?"

"No, this isn't a number I've added a name to," Sora replied, showing off the screen. Sixteen digits, four sets of four, with a two word text below.

'ON ROOF.'

"I know the first set of four digits is the area code," Sora explained. "That's Radiant Garden's. But right now there's only a few worlds with Gummiphones accessing the between-world network, so…"

"Your friends in the lab coats? Vexen?" Vanitas asked, peering.

"No, I have their numbers stored. Wait… this was sent through the group chat, so…"

Sora typed the number into the search bar on the top of the chat screen, to see when the number was added in and if it had commented before.

Sora blinked. It had been added into the group chat at the same time as Vexen and a Twilight Town area code, but hadn't written anything yet. Sora concentrated, trying to remember who'd been in which search party (narrowing it down by the numbers with names already) before hitting a realization like a ton of bricks.

"Vanitas… I think **Isa** is trying to reach us."

* * *

Prompto hissed. Not in pain- or, more specifically, not the kind of pain usually associated with fighting demons; no crushing or slashing or bashing.

It felt like he was at the gym and trying to bench press twice his normal weight. The small crowd of Demyx's pink and white demons weren't helping in the slightest, one reaching out to touch his face and he could have sworn he heard maternal cooing from another.

"Stop molesting me and **help me**," he whined at them. He already knew the tendrils of darkness magic seeping out in curling waves behind him wasn't going to affect them- it wasn't affecting him, either. Ignis stood to his side, daggers out, while Gladio held his greatsword almost like a shield, guarding him as he pushed to keep the portal from closing.

Suddenly, seven pairs of long hands reached around the edges of the pulsing darkness and began to pull outwards, releasing the pressure off Prompto as he gasped a little in shock. The demons were **listening **to him.

"Making new friends, are we? Ignis said, as he spared a glance backwards.

"Shaddup," Prompto hissed.

"Language, pipsqueak," Gladio gruffed out at him.

"You're… not…" Prompto asked through gritted teeth, unsure how to finish his thought.

"Not what? Mad? Hardly. If we'd known you were a demon we would have tossed you out of the car at night as a distraction ages ago," Ignis replied, clearly jest in his lithe voice.

"Very… funny…"

"If you're not trying to eat me, I don't give a flying fuck if you're demon or human," Gladio finished. "Just do your job guarding the Prince and that's all I give a damn about."

"Oh? What was that again about language?" Ignis asked him with an added dose of side-eye.

"Shove it, Specs."

"I believe I shall."

Ignis elbowed Gladio as Noctis phased back next to them, tossing the spent potion bottle to Gladio and readying a magic grenade from a safe distance.

* * *

Demyx sighed.

"This is the second time today I'm gonna have to ask. Hey Goof, you trust me?"

"What'cha plannin', Demyx?"

"I'm going to drown Donald."

Goofy frowned, throwing up his shield just in time to deflect an errant spray of magic coming off the almost-heartlessed Donald. "Make it quick."

"I don't wanna fight more than I have to, you know this by now," Demyx mock-whined in reply as he pulled back his Dancers, a pillar of water erupting under his feet. He surged forward, riding the wave, until it engulfed he and Donald both.

Demyx sighed and calmed himself down. As a human, he'd be panicking without air. As a Nobody, the tide was his domain. As long as he forgot he needed to breathe, he'd be fine, and his lack of emotions wouldn't cause him stress.

The same could not be said for Donald. The almost heartless roared, then tried swimming up outside the bubble of water that Demyx lazily expanded, then began trying to lash out at Demyx himself. But Demyx merely used his own water to glide out of the way, spinning just out of reach like an ice skater in their routine.

After a few more seconds, the wisps of darkness began to fade from Donald, as normal, human panic took over and the last few bubbles escaped his mouth.

Quickly, Demyx gave one las strum, breaking the water spell and sending them plummeting back to the pavement below. Demyx dismissed Arpeggio with a fast wave, so it wouldn't shatter, worried more about the instrument than his own body, and prepared to hit concrete with full-

-Demyx choked on air, soaked, on the pavement, not a scratch on him. As he shook himself out, he saw Noctis haul an unconscious but breathing Donald on a shoulder. Prompto was holding open the portal with the rest of the Nobdies he'd summoned, calm and complacent under the blonde's watchful eye. Noctis must have teleported to catch them, but the momentum meant he'd still blacked out for a moment.

Demyx rose to wobbling feet. "Never again," he muttered irritably.

"I sure hope not, a'hyuck." Goofy took Donald from Noctis, nodding to Demyx. "But you did well."

Demyx just shook his head and walked to Prompto. "Hanging in there?"

"I've been worse," Prompto bit back. "I'm gonna be sore for the next month."

"Yeah, yeah, scoot. I've got it from here." Demyx stepped in the opening, releasing Prompto to great relief.

"Question."

Five sets of eyes looked to Demyx. "What **now**?" Noctis sulked.

"Am I leaving this open behind us? If I don't, I don't think we'll ever be able to get back in."

"Won't our demons have a chance of going through?" Ignis asked.

"Well, sure, but you saw this. We deal with these losers on the daily. Well, not me," Demyx quickly added as Goofy glared at him. "But we have people on our side whose job it is to clean up these messes. A few extra demons to be able to come back and give you guys a hand later sounds like a fair trade."

Prompto stared at Demyx. "I don't know what the others are gonna say, but I'd like that. I… I want to know more." Prompto turned pink and cast his eyes down at his own hands. "if I… if I really am a demon I should learn how to use my powers like you."

Noctis slapped Prompto on the back. "You could always go with them. I know you'd come back."

"The Prince is right, Prompto," Ingnis added. "You'd do a disservice to him not having all of your combat skills honed correctly."

Prompto shook his head. "Not yet. Not now. Not until after the wedding and we take back our home."

Gladio just rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure it's unanimous, zombie. Leave the thing open. We'll make sure it isn't destroyed this time. I'll get the Lestallum locals to put a prefab shack around it so people don't go poking. You just hold up your end of the bargain and teach Prompto how to lead a demon army. Got it?"

Demyx nodded. "Fair deal."

He pressed his fingers into the edges of the miasma, hardening the darkness into something more permanent and palpable, trailing around it until a solid corridor formed. "C'mon, Goofy, we need to haul ass or we'll be left behind."

"Yessir!" Goofy cried, as Demyx grabbed his arm and threw his coat over him for some degree of protection in the corridors.

Quickly, Demyx and Goofy, with an unconscious Donald in tow, were gone, out of sight into the purple-white darkness of Betwixt and Between, leaving the four locals and two mildly panicked chocobos staring at the magic left floating in air.

"So, uh, how're we supposed to prove we did the bounty?" Noctis asked.

Ignis frowned. "We chalk it up as a loss, I suppose. Now who besides Prompto is riding chocobo-back to Lestallum?"


	30. weirdmageddon's end

**Housekeeping!**

**Act 2 is ALMOST over, which means the finale will be hurtling at a fast pace! As it stands, I'm looking at about 42-44 chapters in total, though I'll adjust as needed. These later chapters are going to be longer, so expect longer breaks between, maybe 1/2 a week instead of 2/3 chapters a week. In other words, I'm looking to finish this by September, maybe earlier.**

**I'm going to the KH orchestra show, World Of Tres, in NYC on Friday (the 28th). If you're going, please look for an opera-dress Aqua with a blind cane! I've made Wayfinder vinyl decals, just ask me for one, I used up scrap left over from other projects so they're all freebies (I made about 100 of them).**

**I'll be re-opening my Etsy store soon, I make custom ties, bags, lapel pins, and stickers. If any of you are doing cons this summer, I'll be speaking at Keystone Comic-Con for certain, and I'll be at Pax West- though I don't know if I'll be a speaker (though I have been for the last six years, its never guaranteed).**

**Because of the concert, and spending this weekend with friends, chapter 31 will be at earliest on July 3rd. Expect an explosion of writing over the weekend of the 4th since I have a 5 day weekend next week!**

* * *

"Oh, this is **rich**," Cipher bellowed. "All ten of you with the power to do me in, together? This is almost too easy." With a snap of his fingers the floor drawings went ablaze; the group in the sigil darted back lest they be consumed by fire. Ropes spiraled out of Cipher's massive cane, lassoing Ford and Stan and twining them up to it, upside down, like a pair of extremely irate tetherballs.

"We're not afraid of you, you big isosceles meanie!" Mabel yelled up at Cipher, as angry as a twelve-year-old girl could be.

Which was **furious**.

"Not afraid of me? **Not afraid of me**? Man, Ford, your niece has guts. One thing, Shooting Star," Cipher said, leaning in close to finish with a booming stage whisper right in her face.

"You **should **be."

Bill snapped the fingers on his free hand, and everyone- Gravity Falls resident, Nobody, and Keyblade wielder alike- save Mabel, Dipper, and Naminé were flung effortlessly against the far wall of Cipher's floating domain, turned into fraying tapestries on the walls, their faces frozen in agony in the stitching.

"Well, that was unexpected," Bill muttered, his giant eye fixated on Naminé. "Not that she's worth any extra energy, not a drop of magic from her like the others she's with."

Naminé quickly realized that she should have been transformed alongside her friends on the wall, yet she'd been spared- and not on purpose like it seemed to be for the Pines twins. Her anti-heartless field seemed to extend to Cipher himself… maybe he was really a heartless too? It would explain the dimension hopping at least.

Naminé filed that thought and took a few nervous steps back to place herself against the wall, below the tapestries of everyone. Vexen… Isa… Lea… his assassin Nobodies… Master Mary… Mickey… and her own Somebody… Kairi, too, as well as all the townsfolk. Pacifica looked less like she was screaming in agony and more like she was resigned to it, the poor girl.

Maybe Esuna would work… but she couldn't even cast that, not yet. Right now she needed to observe, maybe one of the older Pines might have one last ace up their sleeve.

Bill scooped up the young Pines twins in his free hand, laughing, and pushing them close to the bound older Pines, like he were playing with action figures.

"One hand or the ooooother," Cipher sing-songed. "Ford, let me in that little noggin of yours and I'll let the runts go."

"Ford, no!" Mabel cried, while Dipper added, "Grunkle Ford, don't!"

Cipher looked between his two hands, seemingly satisfied.

And seemingly distracted.

Naminé summoned her Keyblade again. She knew she couldn't fight Cipher, not head on, but he probably couldn't harm her.

Probably.

She threw the obnoxiously large pencil like a javelin, hitting Cipher square in the pupil, the chamber erupting with his screams. The Keyblade dematerialized, and Naminé felt its warmth return to her.

Cipher, in his pain, dropped both items in his hands, the younger Pines twins in his left, and his cane from his right, clattering to the floor. Without his hand holding the cane, the ropes disintegrated.

"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford! **Run**!" Dipper yelled at them. "Mabel and I've got Bill!"

Dipper reached for Mabel's already outstretched hand as the two of them dove deeper into the pyramid, leaving the older Pineses standing momentarily in disbelief of their courageous niece and nephew.

"Oh no you don't," Bill roared, materializing a cage, trapping Ford, Stan and the nearby Naminé within. Bill seemed pleased with this. "Why don't you three stay in time out? I've got some children to make into corpses…" he added with a self-assured sneer. He might not be able to lay a finger on the stupid girl in the white sundress, but he was able to trap her, which was enough in his book.

For now, at least.

When the world was his and the whole multiverse under his thumb, he'd probably just cage her and let her starve… no, that was way too boring.

Best not count genetically altered chickens before they hatched, Cipher thought, as he flew down the corridor Mabel and Dipper had fled to only moments before.

* * *

"I… I read some of my idiot brother's notes. That thing you chucked at Cipher, the giant pencil he used to write the floor-picture thing, that's really a big 'ol key, right?" Stan asked.

"There's no lock on this, Stan," Ford said exasperated. "Keyblades can open any lock but it needs to **have **one in the first place."

"I'm an idiot," Stan lamented. "A screw-up. If I'd just… if I'd just done as you'd asked, we'd've all made our stupid little circle fast enough and banished that demon to hell by now."

"You think this is all your fault?" Ford cried out, banging his head on the bars. "I'm the one who let that creature into our dimension all those years ago. I **trusted **him. I **let **him possess me!" Ford slid down, turning his back to the bars of the cage. "Where did we go wrong, brother?" Why aren't we like Dipper and Mabel?"

Naminé pouted. "Because they're **kids**. Unlike you two, they haven't let something fester for years. I don't know what it is between you two, and I really don't care, but you both need to let it go and **move on**."

Naminé smiled a little to herself at that; it was strangely cathartic to yell.

"You got guts, little lady," Stan said, holding out a flask to her, as she held up her hands, shaking no. "C'mon, the world's ending, anyway. Call it shabbat, we can say blessings and everything. I can't even remember what day it is anymore, so it might as well be Friday."

"Don't taunt her," Ford hissed, snatching the bottle and downing its contents. "Hey, not bad taste in whisky." Ford looked down. "I'm gonna let Bill in my mind. It's our only option at this point. I've set up a ton of mental barricades, it'll take him a good while to find the information he needs to break open the sigils keeping him trapped in Gravity Falls. I want you guys to take as many people as you can, go through the portal to Mickey's world, and destroy the entrance behind you. Are we clear?"

"No, we are not clear!" Stan cried at his brother, snatching his flask back. "I'm not leaving you behind. **Again**!"

"Well, how about this," Ford offered, pulling a gun from his coat, sliding it to Naminé. "Don't worry, that's not a weapon. It's a memory erasing gun. I'm… let's just say I'm immune, or I would have just suggested that we get Cipher inside and blast my memory to smithereens, Bill with it. But since that's not the case, once you're out, you can fine tune the settings. Make Stan an only child."

"No!" Naminé cried, dropping the device on the floor with a clatter and an odd sounding crunch. "I'm not… I'm not doing that again…" she whimpered, a piteous look on her face. "I'm not… I can't."

"Bro, I'm a useless idiot. I'm dead weight. What if… I offered Bill my mind?"

"No way he'd take it, Stan. There's nothing he wants in there."

"Nothing he wants of **Stan's**," Stan offered, taking off his ugly red fez and dropping it on his twin brother's head.

"You… shyster," Ford hissed. "You absolute madman."

"Do it," Stan demanded. "Let me be useful for once."

"Please… don't…" Naminé cried.

"This isn't your decision to make," the two said in unison, already roughly removing jackets and gloves and shoes and passing things between them until Stan became Ford and Ford became Stan.

"If you have kids one day, Nam," Stan said sharply, stuffing the extra digit of his brother's six-fingered gloves with tissue from Ford's coat pockets so they didn't look deflated, "you'll understand. I'll do anything to protect Dipper and Mabel. I'll **die**for them."

No sooner had Stan shoved his hands in his brother's gloves did Bill return, blood red, six arms, and angrier than the depths of Hell, hauling Mabel and Dipper back before Stan, Ford, and Naminé.

"Time's up, Sixer," Bill breathed out in 'Ford''s face from between the bars. "Tickety-tock. Time may not run in here but I'm on a helluva tight schedule. Let me in or…" he said menacingly, shaking the children in front of them, "someone's gonna be an only child. Eenie, meenie…"

"I'll do it!" Stan roared, while Ford, in his brother's outfit, slumped in the cage, hands hidden in his pockets. "Just… just spare the kids, yes? My only condition is you give me your word they're never to be harmed. Not by you, or anything remotely associated. That's the terms of the deal, and I know you have to stick to that or you pay the consequences."

Bill roughly dropped the kids on the floor and sneered, despite having no mouth. He revered down to a smaller size, roughly two feet high, floating at eye level. "Fine. By your words, the kids won't be harmed. Nothing about your brother?"

'Ford' looked to 'Stan'. "I'm not pushing my luck, I know you'll find some way to get out of your end of the bargain if I add too many clauses."

"Smart man. Smarter than your idiot brother at least," Cipher cackled. "Shake on it?" he added, his hand engulfed in the blue flames he adored so much.

"It's a deal."

The cage dropped away, and Cipher lunged for 'Ford''s hand. The demon turned to stone- his physical body no longer needed, as Stan's eyes glazed over before glowing Cipher yellow.

"Ford, no!" Mabel and Dipper screamed., as the real Ford drew his hands from his pockets, brandishing the memory erasing gun. The younger Pines spotted Ford's six fingered hands, and whispered no again, hoarse and exhausted. Ford closed his eyes, a faint streak of tears visible in the harsh lighting, and pulled the trigger at Stan's head.

"Blast it!" Ford cried, throwing down the gun. "It's busted. This… this was all… he wasted… my fault…"

"I can do it," Naminé said quietly, almost robotically. "I can unravel his mind."

She called forth Drawing Blanks again, not for the key, no.

For the **keychain**.

A functional tiny sketchbook tied up with a single blue colored pencil.

"Everyone, stay back. I need to focus," Naminé ordered, staring down her subject. Their earlier attempt at using the prophecy-circle might have been useless against Bill, but it had given Naminé a solid link from Sora down to Stan through Mickey's friendship with Ford. **Five**. Five links down to reach Stan, and she knew she could do it.

She knew one day, wielding a Keyblade meant she might just have to take someone's life.

She just never expected it to be so soon.

* * *

Bill, if he had a mouth, would probably have it on the floor.

He was inside the Pines idiot's mind, yes? And it was that absolutely tacky living room of the shack he'd hated years ago when he'd tricked Ford, and he'd hated it now.

So why was the image of Ford in his mind… wearing his equally idiotic brother's stupid fez?

Playing paddleball?

"Oh great, it's Sixer's memory of his brother, completely mindless," Bill muttered. "Hey, mental hallucination? Yeah, you! Tell me where in this stupid mindscape I can find something actually useful, like the side of Ford's memories that aren't soft for his brother."

"Oh- thwack- I'm- thwack- sorry- thwack- Ford- thwack- can't- thwack- come- thwack- to the- thwack- phone- thwack- right now," Stan grinned, emphasizing every word with another hit of the paddle on the little pink rubber ball. "He's in another mind. Can I leave him a message?"

"Ohhhhhh no, oh no no no no no," Bill screeched, turning back for the door to leave the way he came.

Except, where the door should have been, was a blue colored pencil drawing of one.

Bill shrieked in frustration, ripping at the wall, tearing the paper to shreds, leading to a white room, with a white table and white chairs, scattered with millions of blue colored pencil sketchbook drawings.

"Oh, hi Bill!" Naminé said cheerfully. "Thanks for ripping up that memory, it's saving me the trouble."

In the real world, Naminé's tears were streaking every tiny page, as she frantically drew to unhinge the links in Stan's mind.

Consequences be damned, she was a Keyblade wielder. She was Kairi's Nobody. She **had **to fight.

She just couldn't let Bill see just how much it got to her in reality.

In Stan's mind, her projection was cool, calm and collected. She had to be.

White-room Naminé smiled gently, as the world around her slowly turned from bleak white to colored pencil blue. "Tea, Bill?" she asked him, a hand-drawn pot appearing before the mind-demon. Bill flicked it aside, and blue colored-pencil flames poured from it, setting the dreamscape ablaze.

He screamed again, as Stan lumbered up from his recliner, cracking his knuckles.

"Mind if I, Nam?" he asked with a grin.

Naminé looked up from her work.

"It would be an honor, Mister Pines."

"**Mister **Pines. Heh," Stan chuckled, before punching out Bill in a whoosh of crackling blue flames.

He smiled, saluting Naminé. "Don't know why I'm seeing you before I die, Nam, but it's good to have a friend."

Naminé couldn't hold her emotions back any more, crying into the pages in the mindscape, soaking them in a literal river and putting out the flame.

"Good job, Mister Pines."

"I'm **not **useless," Stan said under his breath, before the entire papered-over mindscape melted under the literal river of Naminé's tears.

* * *

Drawing Blanks clattered out of Naminé's hands, her emotions spent. Keeled over, she passed out on the spot, as the building, no longer tethered by its master, began to disintegrate.

The tapestries went first, the townsfolk and foreign folk rematerializing only to feel the floating pyramid shudder under them, sliding sideways. Bill's petrified body slid lifelessly, flinging out the massive hole in the pyramid, only to fall somewhere in the woods below.

Mary had only moments to size up the situation.

"Circle up!" she demanded. "Mickey, Aeroza?"

"I know it," Mickey replied back with a nod.

"Good, anyone else?"

"Me," Vexen said curtly. "Magic is my forte."

"Good, three's enough. Mickey, at 12 o'clock. I will stand at 4, Vexen, you at 8. Everyone hang on, now!"

Ford scooped up his brother's body, still breathing, but likely a vegetable for life, while Robbie frowned, but slung Naminé on a shoulder before linking in with everyone else. The pyramid disappeared around them as three voices cried out Aeroza in unison, gently gliding everyone down to the pavement below.

* * *

Joshua shuddered, his wings twitching erratically.

"Ugh," he whined, shaking himself out. "Hey, Tomo?"

"Yes?" Tomo asked, holding the bag of doughnuts they'd bought for the group.

"Couple of detours. Mind joining me?"

"Detours? Are you okay?" he asked, eyeing Joshua's wings, which had finally stilled.

"Yeah. Fine,"

Tomo snorted. "You're fine and I'm Riku."

"Visibly passing on the outside but very clearly a different thing completely?" Joshua added, a light tease in his tone. "Yes. I actually am fine. It's this whole world that I'm worried about. That was some real powerful magic, that. When we're back, it might be worth to have a check in call with everyone. It's been about seventeen hours, right?"

Tomo nodded. "What kind of magic would set you off like that?"

"Reality. Time," Joshua hissed. "It wasn't in Japan, so I'm doubly worried. That far away and it's still giving me bad juju? I just hope whatever shit that went down wasn't with the fairies or in Gravity Falls."

"It was, wasn't it?" Tomo asked, hurrying behind Joshua, wings bobbing on his back.

"Oh yeah. Couldn't have been anything else. I know how you people operate."

* * *

Lea flicked his Gummiphone screen on.

"That can't be right."

"We just survived a crazed demon controlling our town a week, what's right anymore?" Gideon whined.

Lea rolled his eyes. "The **time**."

"Whaddabout it?" McGucket asked, staring at the screen.

"What day and time was it when everything went to hell?"

"**Children**," Ford chided at him, shifting his brother's weight on his shoulder. His breathing was quickening, a massive surprise.

"When everything went to h-e-double-broom-sticks," Lea sighed out. "It was dusk wasn't it? On the 24th?"

The group murmured.

"It's 2:25 in the afternoon. On the **24th**. We went back in time, about five or so hours."

"So we can still get to Sora," Isa commented. "With plenty of time to spare."

Lea nodded. "How many hours ahead was Tokyo again?"

"Sixteen," Ford said, entirely too quickly for mental math.

"It's not even seven in the morning on Wednesday, there," Lea laughed, almost delirious. "Oh gods I am so tired and hungry."

"Your math is still in the Shack, isn't it?" Ford asked him. "Come on, Let's hot wire a few cars and get people home. I don't think anyone's going to care as long as they get returned."

* * *

Ford drove with Dipper, Mabel, Stan, and Lea in his car, Mickey in another behind with Mary, Naminé, Isa, and Kairi. The Assassins leapt through a portal to meet them back at the Shack with Vexen; if the end of Cipher had put everything else back where it was meant to- or, more specifically, where it was before it had even happened- the Shack should have been back at the edge of the woods, and not a half-destroyed mech.

Ford pulled around the corner, letting out the largest sigh of his life. It was indeed just around 2:30 on that fateful Tuesday. Right then, he would have been going on his expedition with Dipper. Now? He looked in the backseat, Dipper and Mabel completely zonked out with Stan between them.

And he was beginning to stir.

"Huh? Wazzat?" Stan, still wearing his brother's clothing, grumbled awake.

Ford hit the brakes.

"**Stan**?"

Stan blinked groggily, and Ford breathed a sigh of relief.

"Eyes aren't yellow. Lea, can you check his magic?"

Lea nodded, and twisted himself around to get a good read on Stan. "Minor aches and scrapes, but he's completely magic-free," Lea said, reassuringly. "If anything's in him, it's too small or well-hidden to sense. Have Vexen look when we're out; he's an actual doctor."

Ford nodded.

"Why do you have my face?"

Lea and Ford froze, Lea quietly eyeing Ford.

"You're… you're my brother," Ford said quietly, returning his eyes to the road to park.

"Who woulda thunk it?" Stan asked, smiling, before looking down at the two kids fast asleep to each side.

"Great niece and nephew," Ford explained. "It's been a long day, why don't we head inside?"

Ford came around and picked Dipper up out of the car, still napping. Stan slid out and looked at Mabel. "Great niece, huh?" he asked, unbuckling her and lifting her up before looking at the giant house-slash-tourist-trap that was the Pines estate. "Wow. What a place. What rich bastard lives here?"

"It… it's yours, Stan."

Dipper stirred in Ford's arms.

"Hey, Dipper. Good job," Ford said, shifting his weight a little.

"Hey Grunkle St-I mean Ford."

Ford laughed. "Fair, we are twins."

"Stan's… walking?" Dipper asked, still groggy and confused.

"Who's Stan?" Stan asked, as Lea looked on confused. Mickey pulled into the space next to them, letting the rest of the group out.

Naminé rushed to Stan's side.

"Oh, hey, Nam," Stan said, a light smile. "Wait… **Nam**? I wasn't in the war."

Ford blinked and quickly put Dipper down searching for a penlight, before realizing it was in his coat pocket- the one Stan was still wearing. He snatched it and checked Stan's eyes again. No gold tint of Cipher possession.

Naminé just stared. "The… the links are rebuilding! But… no. I didn't shatter Cipher. Stan did it himself."

Naminé dropped to the gravel, scraped knees be damned. "I can… I can put him back together…" she whispered, elated.

Lea roughly grabbed Naminé, a bit more than he accidentally intended.

"What did you **do**?"

* * *

"…so, I started drawing," Naminé said, everyone squeezed into the tiny living room, a pitcher of lemonade between them that Tiana had whipped up.

Stan was sleeping again- messing with his memories as much as Naminé had would certainly do that to anyone- but the rest of the Pines sat enraptured at her explanation of the vision in his mind.

"So… since Stan killed Cipher in his mind… I think… I think if I put everything back where it should be, Cipher couldn't return. He's not supposed to be there in the first place," Naminé finished. "But that takes time."

Mary clasped her hands in front of her, shaking a little. "This is why minors don't fight," she said sternly. "If things had even been ever so slightly different, Naminé…"

"I have blood on my hands, Master Mary. This isn't… the first time I've done this."

Mary steeled her expression. "And you can make it undone?"

Naminé nodded. "Not just can. Must."

"Then I will stay with you here until the deed is done."

"No."

Every set of eyes turned to the owner of the voice. Vexen stood up. "You're a keyblade master. I will stay."

"She is my responsibility."

"She is my **daughter**."

One could hear a pin drop as Mary seated herself back down, her Keyblade armor clinking on a folding chair. "Very well. Naminé?"

"I… do not mind. I could use a little catching up," she said to Vexen with a small smile. "I do owe him my life."

"I thought you were-" Mary began.

"It's… complicated. Go with the rest of them to Tokyo. I will manage here."

"When this is over I expect at least a twenty mile run to make up for that stunt you pulled, young lady," Mary said sternly.

"Hey, hey, it's not like we'll be far," Lea commented, messing with an oval of black miasma in front of him. "If Vex is staying I can just leave the portal open. Or…" he added, gathering up his wad of graph paper and notes, "have fun, poindexter."

"Oh! Math!" Vexen said excitedly to Mabel's exaggerated groan.

"Not you too."

"Yes me too, young lady," Vexen said sternly, eyeing Lea's calculations. "Everything derives from math. Why, that rainbow shooting star on your sweater is all different wavelengths of light!"

"What, really? So with math I can make tons and tons of rainbows?" Mabel asked, excitedly.

Dipper rolled his eyes. "That's all you care about?"

"Um, yeah, duh."

"Children!" Vexen said, excited but stern. "This might be a bit above your grade level, but if you'd like, I can at least give you an overview of how it works. Naminé's going to need some quiet time to draw and concentrate."

Ford stood up. "Naminé, I can show you to the basement, it's air-"

"Do not," Lea said sternly. "**Lab**."

"Oh, er, my apologies. The guest room then, there's a desk."

"Heya, Ford?" Mickey asked, brushing himself off as he watched Lea finish stabilizing the dark corridor. "There's always the future, y'know. Just because you n' your brother didn't have a great relationship don't mean you can't make a new one."

Ford smiled gently. "Yes, I'm just lucky I've gotten that chance."

"Don't waste it now."

Ford pulled Mickey into a hug. "That's a promise, old friend. Now get out of here. You all have a job to do."

"Not all," Lea said, observing his handiwork. "Tiana and friends? What are you all going to do?"

"Us?" Naveen asked, scratching his head.

"This isn't your world, yours is still lost to darkness," Lea admitted. "But I'm also not going to ask you to come help and-"

"Well, of course we're coming, sugar," Tiana said brusquely. "Well, I am at least."

"Then so am I," the other three said in unison, arms on fire.

"Whoa, fine, I'm not stopping you, just… keep that magic on standby, 'kay? Lesse, final tally at…nine of us, right? Am I missing anyone?"

"No, but if things get hairy, you let me know," Ford insisted. "I can fight."

"We're a phone call away," Lea insisted. "Pile in, and Mary?"

"**Master **Mary."

"You aren't a Nobody, and you don't have vestments. That armor enough?"

"It is Keyblade armor, I am perfectly fine, thank you. Though the darkness cannot harm me."

"Cocky, are we?"

"Confident," Mary insisted, striding towards the corridor, glancing at her charge on the way. "I will be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail, Naminé, and I expect your mess completely clean before my return."

"Yes ma'am!" Naminé cried, saluting. Mickey bowed to her and Isa graced her with a small nod of understanding.

Kairi tackle-hugged her. "Come through when you're done, yeah?"

"This could take a few days, Kairi, maybe a week. Riku doesn't **have**a week."

"Oh… yeah," Kairi said, downcast.

"You have to come through here to leave, though, yeah? When you're all done, come keep me company… er, if it's okay with the Pines."

"I can't say no to Naminé, not ever, or Mickey, for that matter" Ford admitted. "Home's always open."

Kairi squeezed her Nobody one more time. "You're going to be a Keyblade master someday," she whispered to her.

"I'm pretty sure Mary'll make sure of that or die trying," Naminé hissed back. "Now go. Lea's making funny faces behind your back."

"Am not," Lea whined, halfway in the portal.

"Are too," Naminé insisted.

Kairi smiled, turning on her heel. "Good luck," she added as a parting shot.

"No, this, this I know how to do," Naminé insisted. "You need it more."

And they were gone, the house quiet, save some irregular 'oohs' and 'aaahs' coming from the kitchen as Vexen explained something.

Followed by a loud thud in the attic.

Ford instinctively grabbed a golf club as Stan was momentarily jolted awake.

"If there's any gnomes in my attic I'm going to punt them all the way to Portland," Ford hissed.

Vexen stuck his head out of the kitchen entryway. "Actually… I think I know what that was. One moment." Vexen disappeared in a pool of blackness, reappearing later with a large sack written with their own language from home. **Rice**.

"Looks like Mike pulled through. The attic is full of food and bottled water. Better late than never, I suppose. Why don't I make a feast for the town with all of it? I'm sure everyone is exhausted."

* * *

The nine of them tumbled out the exit, only a moment's time. Lea expected the tunnel to be longer, but he was connecting two points on the same world, so a mere three steps was all that stood between central Oregon and central Tokyo.

He flopped on the roof, sighing. "An actual city. Man, Radiant's got nothing on this place, right? Leave it open?"

"Close it, Lea," Isa suggested. "You know how to open it from this end, right?"

"Now that I know what I'm doing , yeah. And Vex's smart, he can do it from his end with my notes if he needs to." Lea waved his fingers, shutting the portal.

"Oh no, I forgot my phone," Kairi cried out. Nine sets of eyes stared at her, and she giggled. "Good, everyone's still functional."

"Barely," Lea whined, pulling out his own device. 6:59 AM on Wednesday the 25th.

"You think we beat the other group here, after all that?" Mickey asked.

"Don't doubt it," Isa replied, ticking on his phone. Three more hands reached into pockets as their devices rung or buzzed.

'ON ROOF'

"Really, Isa?" Lea asked, incredulously.

"**Tired**," Isa admitted. "Hungry."

"Whiny," a voice finished for him.

Isa nearly fell over. A girl with long hair and straight cut bangs in an oversized T-shirt and black leggings stood on the roof. She most assuredly hadn't been there a moment before.

"Gabriel. Hi. Welcome to hell, I'll show you to your rooms."


	31. freeloading

_**a massive MASSIVE thanks to everyone replying to this fic with their theories, comments, or just general replies. getting a ding that i've received another review absolutely makes my day. hearing from you all, because, let's be real, i'm writing this for you guys. i'm not paid, and, if i were writing for just me, this'd just sit on my computer somewhere.**_

_**thanks for sharing this crazy ride with me. :D**_

_**oh yeah- some Archive of Our Own stats. this is now the longest fic i've ever written, with the most subscribers (over 100!) it's also my third most read fic, second most commented, and fifth most kudos'ed! (sorry ff people, I only did ao3 stats)**_

_**so thanks SO much for reading and chatting with me!**_

* * *

Floating… he was floating.

He was underwater. The last thing he remembered was drowning, simultaneously in a sea of darkness, and, well, regular water.

Donald instinctively grabbed for his throat, and an alarm blared.

"Donald, please, relax," came a soothing older gentleman's voice reverberating within his tank, as Ansem appeared in view, warped, on the other side of the glass. "You're in a decontamination tank, and I humbly request you do not remove your breathing apparatus."

So it was, Donald realized- his beak encased in a plastic snorkel of sorts.

Donald glared outbound at Ansem, tapping a foot on nothing as he floated in the fluid.

"You can talk, you know. The rebreather was 3D printed to accommodate you."

"Bah," Donald rasped, worried at first he'd let water- or whatever he was floating in- in his lungs. **Again**. He moved his mouth around, satisfied, and spoke. "Demyx and Goofy?"

Ansem sighed and pulled up a chair. "They were running dangerously short on time, Donald. And you needed to recover."

"**Benched**," Donald hissed, irritably.

"Better than dead," Ansem replied. "Or a Heartless, which given the circumstances, is probably worse."

"Well, Sora's bit the bucket and he's also a…" Donald cut his own thought off halfway. "I should have listened to that idiot Nobody."

"Even stopped clocks are right twice a day," Ansem said, with a light smile. "I received the cribbed notes from Goofy before they left. When it comes to issues of darkness, mayhaps next time, take a Nobody's personal experience into account, yes?"

Donald replied with crossed arms and a frown.

"You only need another hour or two in there, but I'm putting you under house arrest until your magic fires cleanly, you hear me?"

Donald nodded slightly, and closed his eyes.

"I can leave you with some music, or a film, if you'd like," Ansem offered.

"My thoughts," Donald muttered.

"Heavy metal then?" Ansem joked lightly. "I kid. Just press the button to your left if you need anything."

Ansem quietly closed the door behind him.

"Always preferred prog rock," Donald mused to himself.

* * *

Sora was about to put his phone away, when it vibrated madly, almost slipping out of his hands.

"Watch it, I don't have one of those," Vanitas hissed, snatching it from Sora and unlocking it without any thought.

"How did you know my password?" Sora pouted.

"Kairi's birthday," Vanitas snapped back, as a voice on the other end giggled madly.

"Ooooh, now I know Sora's lock combo," Gabriel cooed. "Do me a favor, short, dark, and emo. Uri gave you guys money, right?"

Vanitas covered the receiver and side eyed Sora. "How much she give us? Yen?"

"A five thousand bill?" Sora asked patting himself down to find his wallet. "And I have another ten thousand left over from clothes shopping, oops. Forgot to give that back."

"We have fifteen k," Vanitas replied, rolling his eyes at his twin's forgetfulness. Honestly, Sora would probably leave his head behind if it wasn't permanently screwed in place.

"That's perfect. Do me a favor and wipe the shelves clean from Family Mart would you? Food and drink. Or Lawson's. 7-11 can suck it."

"That's just because the 7-11 by the Akiba train station has a clerk that keeps hitting on her," Uriel's voice said, slightly broken and from a distance. "Just get whatever's closer and come back. And don't get pastries. Josh's got those already."

The call ended with an unceremonious click as Vanitas and Sora looked at each other.

"You know," Vanitas muttered as he stretched his wings, flapping them experimentally, picking up Flood, letting the beast latch on his shoulders and head, "it would be kind of nice if they told us everyone got here. I'm really not ready to face down the business end of Aqua's magic."

Sora just blinked. "Everyone's here?!"

Vanitas inhaled hard and stared down the building. "Can you get any more dense," he whined flatly, before leaping off.

* * *

Riku rolled his shoulders, stretching out a kink in his back from rolling on top of one of his own wing points. It was like waking up having fallen asleep on a wrought-iron fence. Maybe he could politely ask Gabriel if she could straighten his back again, or-

-a stampede?

There were twelve people in Joshua's now expanded apartment, after all. A small army of footfalls all at once was to be expected if people were all getting breakfast. He should probably do the same. Riku reached for a fitted t-shirt he'd left hanging over the side of his shoji screen, pulling it on and letting his wings settle just below the raglan seam.

He slid open his screen that separated his space from the larger sitting area, grateful for the privacy. Not that he didn't like everyone- he did- but he just couldn't be like Sora and surround himself constantly with others without going insane.

And he certainly had to be insane, as he jumped back a foot, almost piercing the screen behind him with a barbed wing.

Gabriel was distracted, waving her hands around like the world's most scatterbrained conductor as the world literally bent around her, creating a second stairwell, and, what Riku assumed, was a third floor in their one floor apartment.

A small crowd surrounded her, nine people. At first, Riku's freshly woken state meant he assumed they were just more Reapers visiting for some odd reason. Yet, none had wings and-

-and one of those people was most definitely Kairi.

* * *

Kairi watched in awe as their host twisted her fingers around, building a wooden stairwell by, frankly, punching a hole in reality.

"Sorry," Gabriel admitted. "Wasn't expecting this many people this soon, or I would have set up accommodations already."

Isa was dumbstruck. "When you offered to make up our beds, I did not realize it was literal."

"Oh?" Gabriel asked lightly. "well, it's done. **Rest**. There's two more baths and three restrooms up there now too. I can raid the closets for fresh clothes if needed."

Kairi blinked. "You can make beds but not clothes?"

"Oh, if you just want fabric, I can do that, but…" Gabriel started, as she saw Riku staring dumbstruck at the group. "Riku! I thought you were out with everyone else!"

Nine sets of eyes slowly turned, while Kairi froze.

"Riku!" she hissed. "Riku, oh my g-"

Kairi didn't get to finish her sentence as he pulled her into a deep hug.

"You made it," he choked out, falling to the tatami with her still in his arms.

"Riku…" Kairi cried out, as the rest backed up a little to give them some space.

Kairi rubbed her hands along his back. He was real, and in her arms again, but…

"Riku… you're so cold."

Riku nodded into her shoulder. "Yeah, I worried that might be. The living people keep complaining that the dead are like ice."

* * *

Kairi warmed her hands on a cup of steaming green tea on the new third floor, as Riku looked among the faces.

"Hey Lea," he said, slightly embarrassed, as he watched Kairi try to discreetly rub her hands on the cup to return some feeling to them. "Aaaand… he added looking at the blue haired man next to him. "You're Isa, right? We've only met the once. But I don't recognize anyone else here."

"You don't don't'cha?" Mickey asked with a small smile.

Riku was suddenly very glad he'd declined Gabriel's tea, biting his tongue to prevent a stream of expletives.

"K-king Mickey?!" he finally managed to stutter.

"I'd say in the flesh, but Donald 'n Aqua worked their magic," he replied, candidly.

"Human looks good on you, your Highness," Riku choked out laughing. "So, do the rest of you want to surprise me, or what?"

"Oh no," Mary said gently, sipping her tea. "I dare say you haven't yet met us. Isa's group was kind enough to extricate me from an Old World, and these four are Nobodies along for the ride."

"So what was this about maintaining order?" Riku asked, steepling his fingers as he gave Mickey a good-natured glare. Mary responded by materializing Forever-In-Tune on the table.

"Oh," Riku said, long past being fazed by the group, followed with a, "isn't that… er, the blonde Nobody's, as a Keyblade? The one with the mullet?"

Mary started laughing. "A **mullet**? Has he really sunk that low?"

"If you think **Isa **is a fashion disaster," Lea said, rolling his eyes and slapping his friend on the back hard, "**hoo **boy."

* * *

Vanitas stretched his wings, staring down the apartment complex, as he handed Sora his half of the groceries.

Sora looked at him funny. "We're supposed to stay in pairs, don't tell me you're flying off alone."

Vanitas just pointed to Flood on his head.

"I **guess**," Sora muttered, remembering the two of them could separate and cover their own planes if they got cornered by Noise. "You don't wanna come in and say hi, do you?"

Vanitas shook no. "Not in a big noisy group, no. I don't need to throw myself into a situation I know'll set me off."

Sora smiled quietly. "Take my phone, then? That way when you're ready to say hello on your terms you can without going inside."

Vanitas stared dumbstruck. One part of him intrinsically knew Sora cared. Sora cared **too **much, after all. But another was still shocked at how much he specifically was going out of his way for his literal doppelgänger.

"I'm just going to people watch from the roof," Vanitas countered, pushing Sora's hand, and his phone, away from him, before plucking two wrapped onigiri from one of the bags. Seaweed and pickled plum, he made sure to check the packaging.

Sora pulled a third one from the bags, egg. "Don't let Flood skip breakfast," he insisted.

"It doesn't need to eat, so long as I have," Vanitas insisted, despite the Unversed making chittering noises and grabby hands- or claw points.

Vanitas sighed and snatched the third rice ball from Sora. "Fine, but no whining if you get a stomachache. And stop yanking my hair."

Sora tossed him a can of coffee, too. "Just knock on the balcony if you need me?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Vanitas said, rolling his eyes and shoulders both before skyrocketing upwards.

* * *

Vanitas snapped his wings back. He **recognized **that face.

**Vexen**.

The man was in a black leather jacket that didn't suit him at all. Vanitas recalled how some of the Heroes of Light or whatever they called themselves would have a costume- or even bodily- change when moving between worlds.

The fact that not just a former Nobody but a current one was on their side almost made Vanitas laugh, before he realized how effortlessly Sora extended the offer to him too.

Trusting idiots.

Vexen blinked and looked around, as though he was sure someone or something was there, shook his head, and turned back to an open dark corridor on the roof.

Vanitas felt his wings begin to strain from treading air and frowned. Last thing he needed was to be grounded for the big fight, and landed on the roof.

"Snooping?" Vanitas asked, startling Vexen. "Or are you not a people person?"

Vexen regained his composure quickly. "Neither, Sora, and do not-" he started, looking dumbstruck at the teen facing him. Vexen took a few steps to close the gap. "You dyed your hair?"

"That's the first thing you ask?" Vanitas asked, snorting; Vexen noticing the Unversed gripping Vanitas's locks.

Vexen blinked a few times. "You're… not Sora. You wouldn't happen to be Vanitas, would you?"

Vanitas almost sneered, plucking Flood off his head and pulsing darkness until it formed a mirrored helmet on his head.

"No wonder that asshole kept you on a short leash," Vexen muttered, no need to dignify the man with his name. "I do apologize."

Vanitas made the helmet dissipate; it didn't feel **right **anymore. He smiled again, the malice gone. "We all did what we had to, to survive, nerd."

"Well, I never!" Vexen replied, in clear mock affront. Flood chittered, head-butting the Nobody in the shins. Vanitas bent over and scooped up the creature.

"It's… tame," Vexen commented, curious.

"Because I don't feel like someone's gonna murder me, ironic being dead and all," Vanitas replied, flapping his wings to sit down on the fence surrounding the building.

"Over here, numbnuts," Vanitas called holding out an onigiri.

"I didn't see you use a corridor," Vexen replied, hurrying over.

"Dead people power," Vanitas replied with a shrug.

"You were… watching me earlier," Vexen commented. "I felt a chill, like a ghost was present. I thought it was just me being worried. And thank you, but no. I was only supposed to be here a minute to check my work. I have dinner to cook back on the other side."

Vanitas unwrapped the triangle and went to inhale it, but restrained himself. Nobody was taking his food away, he could slow down and actually enjoy it.

"You're not here with the group?" he asked, mouth full, as Flood pestered him for a bite. Vexen bit his tongue in lieu of commenting on table manners. The fact that Vanitas was showing his face and speaking at all was a minor miracle; he wasn't going to go and ruin it.

"Naminé is on the other side, and we still have to clean up from out little mishap there. We… ran into some issues that required her expertise."

"I can tell when something's not meant for my delicate ears," Vanitas grunted sarcastically.

"It's more that the explanation will take longer time than I can afford. Speak to one of the people staying with you if you want to know more."

Vanitas polished off his seaweed ball in silence.

"I… well. I should be going. My phone works if one of your group needs me. You can let Lea know that I can open and close the corridor from the other side without incident."

Vanitas nodded.

"Hey."

Vexen turned back to look at the child- for that's what he was- a child, roughly Ienzo's age to boot.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I… well. I knew you were going to betray the bastard. And sneaking out replicas and stuff."

Vexen smiled at that. "And I thank you for not sharing that with the old asshole of ours."

"Bah. I had no idea what the things were or for. Just that you were doing something under his stupid-ass nose."

"And so were you?"

"As much as I could, I guess," Vanitas said with a shrug. "You know, when Flood gets aggressive but its mouth isn't open it's because it wants attention."

Vexen eyed the portal and stepped away from it, closing the gap on the empty roof between himself and Vanitas.

"Take it off my hands before it steals the rest of my breakfast," Vanitas grumbled, shoving Flood off.

Vexen gently rocked the beast and ran his fingers through its velvety fur. "Nothing like Heartless," he commented quietly, his scientist hat firmly on. "Curious. Seems to me as though they're precisely as aggressive as their owner," he added, looking slyly at Vanitas.

"What were you expecting?" he grumbled.

"Possessiveness, at the very least," Vexen replied, giving chin scratches and noticing Vanitas react alongside his tiny creation, both necks craning up, relaxed. "Now, do your Unversed react as such when you're touched, Vanitas? Knowledge of how you're linked might have enormous benefits for medicine."

Vanitas snapped out of his stupor. "I **hate **being touched," he grumbled.

Vexen quickly attempted to hand Flood back, and Vanitas clarified, trying to sort out his thoughts. "No, that's fine. I mean **me**. Even when I'm practically drugged it just… it's too much. I can initiate, but if someone grabs me, I panic."

Vanitas didn't know why he was even telling Vexen this, a person he'd literally never spoken to directly before- not like this. But he'd seen both the man's quiet rebellion and also knew his extensive studies on both physiology and darkness. If anyone could help, it was probably him.

"I think the Unversed are acting as some sort of dampener or filter, though I would need to run tests to be sure. Your best bet is to try and force yourself to make contact with others, a little at a time," Vexen offered. "In other words, and this might sound extremely silly, but have people hug you. I don't think you've ever had a positive experience with contact in your life."

"Not until I died," Vanitas admitted.

"Trauma is a hell of a poison, Vanitas. All of us are attempting to deal with it. Yet, from what I understand, you and Terra had it the worst."

Vanitas growled like a beast at the mention of that name, but couldn't deny Vexen's point. Vexen waited for the teen to die down to finish.

"What I'm saying, Vanitas, is please give it time. When you're alive again, or in the extremely unlikely occurrence that Naminé finishes her work first, you're welcome to talk to me. We're all dealing with the shadow of a tyrant. And if you want a physical evaluation, I'm happy to look you and your Unversed over, if you're willing."

Vanitas hopped down from his perch. "I… I'll take you up on it, but no take-backs," Vanitas insisted, walking past Vexen to touch the dark corridor. It was as hard as a solid wall to him.

"You cannot leave, can you?"

"Need permission for that, and I'd still be dead."

"When you walked past me it was like ice."

Vanitas snapped his wings shut high on his back. "I'm **dead**," he snipped, reminding Vexen again.

Vexen moved to put his hand on one of Vanitas's shoulders, but pulled back at the last second. "Yes. And we will take care of that."

Vanitas flinched. "You were… going to touch my shoulder."

"It is a reflex when dealing with Ienzo, yes. He didn't get enough social contact growing up, being a Nobody in his formative years and all," Vexen said quietly. "However, I don't want to invade your space."

"G-go ahead," Vanitas said, bracing for impact. "I… it's okay."

Vexen gently placed his hand on Vanitas's shoulder. It was soothing. A little chilly, even. Vexen's domain was the Dusks and ice, after all.

"It's a start, Vanitas. But do not forget. Thebes wasn't built in a day."

Vanitas swallowed a lump in his throat as Vexen disappeared through the corridor, snapping shut behind.

* * *

Sora was glad he'd dumped the bags he'd accumulated on the kitchen table before heading upstairs, because he probably would have squashed their breakfast.

Kairi pulled him into a hug so tight, even a warp hole in the Oceans Between couldn't compare.

Slowly, he extricated an arm to get a hug in edgewise. "Kairi…." He murmured. "Kairi, Kairi, Kairi…"

"You two need a room?" Uriel asked, grinning. She was enjoying the show.

The two were a shaking sobbing mess on the floor, the rest slowly edging back down to the second level to give them some space.

"Wait," Kairi choked out between sobs. "Riku. Here."

"I'm intru-" Riku started, but Sora cut him off.

"**Here**," he demanded, uncharacteristically.

Nervously, Riku was absorbed into the hug like an amoeba, the sound of a shoji sliding behind an army of footsteps a little too hard as the three finally held on in peace.

* * *

"So, you three finish your pity party?"

"Vanitas!" Sora cried at him, loping down the steps to an even larger table on the second floor laden with food and carafes of drinks. They'd washed themselves up at the sinks, and, as it seemed, so had the newcomers, in mismatched pajamas. Lea was most definitely wearing a hoodie that Riku had bought on Monday, stretched out a bit with magic to fit his matchstick frame.

Riku **liked **that jacket.

Sora and Riku held a possessive wing each around Kairi, sharing a secret between them that she couldn't see. At least not until Gabriel came around with an armful of goggles.

"I've got eight here, when Rhyme and Komaeda're up we'll hopefully have two more sets. Y'all'll need to sleep with them again tonight if we want enough; seems like this is only half of you. Which is nuts. You two have some good friends," she smiled at Sora and Rku before looking sideways to Vanitas.

"…sorry," she added with a squeak.

He just shrugged. "No complaints here, nerd."

"You're taking this whole 'being dead' thing pretty well," Lea said, sifting through the rice balls and grabbing a salmon.

"New boss has a better benefits package," Vanitas replied, eyeing Isa with a knowing look. Flood curled up with the blue haired man immediately when they'd entered and happily snoozed in his lap.

The creature certainly knew who on their former lineup had actually been fighting Xehanort. Isa bent over to give Flood a little head scratch and the creature flipped, legs up.

Quickly, Vanitas sat himself against a wall; if Flood kept giving puppy eyes to his former coworker, he was going to be keeling over from indirect belly rubs in a moment.

He hated to admit he liked it. He just needed to get used to real contact too.

Gabriel dangled the goggles out in front of the group. "Who's gonna forego seeing the reality of the situation for now?"

"I'll pass," Isa said, going for the soft fur on Flood's tummy, cradling it like an infant. "It's not like it's going to change anything. What, are they all decomposing or something?"

Gabriel laughed. "Geez, morbid much? Nah," she said, offering out the eyepieces.

Sora snatched one, grinning sheepishly to offer it to Kairi. "Take a look."

Kairi tentatively reached for the goggles, and Riku helped her fix them on.

"Wings!" she cried, surprised. Isa almost dropped Flood, banging a hand on the table as Vanitas spasmed against the wall, shocked, and too embarrassed to admit why. A puppy head poked up out of his shadow, and, with a sigh, he pulled it into his own lap.

"Can I…?" Kairi asked, reaching out. Sora silently nodded, shivering a little as Kairi ran her fingers down the main stem to an edge.

"It's like… cold iron," she said, embarrassed, turning to see Gabriel's own mightily feathered wings. "Gabriel's are fluffy, though."

"I'm an angel," she offered, as if that clarified anything, to the sound of footsteps coming from the first floor. "And so is he."

* * *

"Another Riku?"

"Kairi," Tomo said, sheepishly. "It's a… well, I'm glad to finally meet you for real," he offered, scratching the back of his neck. "I… um. Vexen made me a few years ago. Around when Naminé was made from you. I'm sort of… Riku's Nobody, for lack of a better explanation. I'm like Roxas."

"Oh! You know Naminé then?"

Tomo turned tomato red, his wings folding in like a lacy security blanket.

"That's a yes," Vanitas called from the peanut gallery. "Captain Self Confidence Issues has a giiiiirlfriiiiiend."

"You're one to talk," Tomo snorted out.

"Hey, I **admit **I'm a shithead," Vanitas said out loud.

Isa almost dropped his tea.

"I guess we all had to do things to survive," he muttered to himself, though Vanitas caught it.

"We're all fucked, aren't we?" Lea vocalized for them both, slapping his friend on the back. "When all this is over we're going to need a real long vacation. Real. Long."

"Some mental health assessments would probably also help," Joshua admitted, tearing into a cronut.

Isa nodded quietly. "Yes, I think we all have seen enough to last many lifetimes."

Slowly, the rest of the group put on the eyepieces. Mickey quirked an eyebrow. "Knew I'd seen those sweatshirts before," he muttered.

"Sweatshirts?" Joshua asked.

"A few days ago, Sora 'n Riku sent Kairi a photo. They were wearing Reaper uniforms, weren't they?"

Joshua sipped his coffee. "Sounds like you know a thing or two, mind sharing?"

"Not at all, except… we're exhausted," Mickey admitted. "You're fightin' this Coco person on Thursday, yeah? We should all probably rest up and compare notes over dinner later."

"Too true," Joshua said. "And my group has some preparations to make today, anyway. Why don't all of you nap while we work on an assignment?"

Lea breathed out a massive sigh. "Yes. **Please**."

"Very well, rest," Joshua said, gesturing to the third floor. "Hey, Vanitas, Tomo, Sora, and Riku?"

The four of them perked up.

"We need to make pins. Hundreds of them."

"Oh yay, manual labor," Vanitas whined.

"Oh, that's jus the half of it. Today's game is a race to distribute. And Rhyme and I're having the Reapers help too. That means you four. Plus Komaeda, if you don't mind waking the rest of our sleepyheads."

Vanitas made an exaggerated gesture, before moaning a "Fiiiiiine," shuffling off to the far side of the large room to wake Neku, Beat, and Komaeda.

Isa hissed at Joshua a simple question as he sat up and headed for a clean futon upstairs.

"**How**…?"

Joshua smiled quietly. "He needed something to do."

* * *

"Don't get rice on the paper, Neku, it'll alter the cant," Rhyme reminded him, most of the food cleared off the table only to be replaced by an assembly line of pin making.

"Maybe I want to," Neku said, though he pushed the pin paper away to finish his breakfast.

"Gabe, do all your designs have to be anime characters?" Uriel asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Um, **yes**," Gabriel replied, scribbling a Heartless on her next pin blank.

"Now you're just telegraphing that we're the ones making these pins," Joshua commented, sifting though her finished designs of Sora, Riku, and Kairi. There were a few symbols he didn't recognize, though he did spy one familiar. The Dream Eater logo.

Vanitas frowned at the pointy-edged Unversed heart. "Really?" he grumbled.

"This is **war**, Vanitas," Gabriel said, looking at him square. "I'm not going to hide what banner we're flying. And plus, the game just came out. People are going to want these."

"Maybe in Akiba," Uriel huffed. "Not in Shibuya."

"Maybe not if it were, say, **Rising of the Shield Hero **or something," Gabriel countered. "But the first **Kingdom Hearts **came out seventeen years ago. People in Shibuya grew up with this. There's a nostalgia thing there."

"Um… seventeen?" Sora asked confused. "I'm not even that old."

"Time zones between your dimension and ours?" Uriel asked. Joshua nodded.

"Actually," he said, sliding his abstract designs aside, "Gabriel's right here. This is **war**, and we're going to let Shinjuku know exactly who is banging down their door. **Gentlemen**?" he added, addressing the four Reapers aside from Komaeda, "Let's make you famous."

* * *

"Komaeda, you draw like a kindergartener," Joshua quipped good-naturedly.

"Yeah, well, my art is **singing **and not everyone is **Neku**," they grumbled, looking over at Vanitas's chicken scratches. "Or the brilliance that's **this**doofus."

"So what's Sora then?" Vanitas laughed, peering at an artist even worse than he.

"Jackson Pollock," Neku said, eyeing the vague attempt at art (in the same way some seltzer brands were the wistful dream of being in the same room as fruit), before swatting at Flood. "Tell your Dream Eater it's not a **Crayon **Eater, please."

"**Flood**," Vanitas hissed at the creature, holding a blue crayon in its maw in an attempt to scribble on a sheet like the big kids were.

"Um. Someone want to tell me when Riku and Tomo learned to art?" Sora deflected.

"**Naminé**," they said in unison, before laughing, like some shared secret.

"Shiki, wow," Sora added, peering at the teen's drawings on his right. She'd drawn Kairi off a game screencap from her cell phone, and Sora would be lying if he didn't say he had half a mind to abscond with the finished pin.

"Designs to the center, it's 10:30 and we're going to have to distribute at 11 to the Reapers before the game starts at noon," Rhyme demanded.

"We've got like… thirty or forty between us," Neku said worried. "That's not nearly-"

Gabriel took one of the paper discs, and flicked it, making two.

"Right," Neku said, forgetting her power to bend reality. "**Copycat**."

"That's Hanekoma," Joshua said, pooling their work. "Is anyone offended if I trash a few of these? We need designs people are going to want to take and wear."

"One, Hanekoma's an **original**," Neku snapped, personally offended, "and two, I don't mind."

"I'm not tossing **yours**," Joshua said, grinning, as he looked square at Sora.

"Hey!"

"I'll use this one, how's that?" Gabriel said, pulling out a crude paopu fruit design. "This one looks **intentionally **childish."

"**HEY**!"

* * *

"Okay, everyone have their routes?"

The Reapers and angels all nodded and saluted.

"Stay in pairs, deliver to your assigned lieutenants, and keep your own set to hand out."

"I feel stupid," Vanitas said, tugging the collar of his bodysuit.

Tomo smiled, slightly embarrassed, wearing his own, the skirt swishing a little as he shifted. "Makes two of us."

"Yeah it's a little different knowing I'm a game character here," Vanitas muttered. "We're the bad guys right? Won't people be scared of us handing out freebies?"

Gabriel grinned. "You have no idea how fast people are going to run **to**you, Vanitas."

"That makes it worse! I don't need people touching me!"

"Make a big Unversed and have it on crowd control?" Gabriel suggested. "People will think it's some dude in a suit or a big puppet."

Vanitas considered the suggestion, it was as good as any.

"Well at least I don't have to wear a wig today," Sora admitted, back in his own attire from home. "And you're sure we can just… wave around our keyblades and everything?"

"Do some magic too, people'll eat it up," Gabriel reminded him, adjusting his lapels. "Remember, get people to put it on things like handbags or computer cases that they'll still wear the next day, and remind them to come back with them for the show tomorrow. We'll hand out more tomorrow morning too. As many as possible."

The tension in the room could be suddenly cut with a knife. "Make sure children get pins **without **cants," Joshua reminded sharply. "We're doing this for a reason."

"You'd better keep your end of the bargain," Vanitas hissed. "Or it'll be the last thing you do, you oversized goose," he added, materializing Found Memories, pointing it right to Joshua's throat.

"I'm doing this for Riku," Tomo added, calling forth Sketchbook Memories and pointing his at Gabriel. "But if the people killed stay dead, they won't be the only ones."

"We're taking out Coco, knowing the risks," Riku added, drawing Braveheart on Uriel. "But our victims don't. If you don't fix this once you have control, well…"

Darkness peeled off his shoulders in a way Sora hadn't seen since their confrontation in the World that Never Was.

Sora sighed, pulling out Kingdom Key. "I can't threaten you, Joshua, but… I have to choose my heart every time. If you hurt anyone, at all, from this stunt… you don't want to see me angry. It's not **me **anymore."

Vanitas was shocked. Sora was about as non confrontational as a Keyblade fighter could possibly ever be and he was supporting the three of them in staring down their gracious and exceedingly powerful hosts.

"Oh, trust me, I've been on the receiving end of that," Vanitas said, dealing with Joshua for him. "There's only one word I have to say when Sora's Heartless comes out and sees you as a threat."

He dispersed his Keyblade and crossed his arms.

"**Run**."

* * *

Gabriel glided down with Sora to the underpass. "Pins!" he shouted at the small group of Reapers waiting for their assignments as soon as Gabriel let him go. He didn't like being carried in the air, but he also wasn't going to sprain a wing the day before the big confrontation.

Eri laughed. "Holy shit, Diaki, right?, that **getup**," she said, barely keeping it together.

"Well, thanks," Sora pouted.

"Isn't game stuff Akiba's thing?" she asked, a bit confused. "Getting the players to hand out pins for a specific brand's one thing but…"

Gabriel landed in view, feathered wings spread to land perfectly vertically, and Eri bowed.

"Eh, save it, I'm not your boss," Gabriel said casually, and Sora blushed.

In the moments between shuffling Sora off her and landing herself, she'd made herself look like Kairi for this. Just what Sora needed, to be carried around to three more meeting spots with a winged g-g-**friend **lookalike.

"Couldn't you have been **anyone **else?" he hissed at her. She just beamed.

"Look, I know it's a real weird request, also hi, I'm Gabriel, Composer of Chiyoda. So yes, **Akihabara**," she added sweetly. "But it's for a reason. We're fighting Coco- yes, the rumors you've heard aren't just true but worse than that- tomorrow and kicking her out of Shinjuku. If all goes well, we might even be able to drop the walls, too. The pins imprint, but only on the living. They won't do anything to Reapers or the Players. And do **not **give imprinted pins to little kids please, Joshua and your Conductor draw the line there. We're not trying to pull a Red Skull here, if any of you remember **that **debacle."

Sora handed Eri a giant zip bag full of sandwich bags of pins. "The bags with the red dot aren't imprinted. The players should wear a regular one to shift the trends in the city, and the Reapers hand them out when the living start wanting them."

"A few of us cosplayers will be over by the Scramble handing out pins too. Everyone passes or fails today- empty those unmarked bags. If there's leftover un-imprinted pins you can keep em or toss. We don't care. Next stop?" Gabriel asked Sora, beckoning him to grab on, leaving Eri slightly dumbstruck, if only for a moment.

"You heard the cosplayers, kids. Let's crush today's mission. And tomorrow, we **riot**."

* * *

Joshua landed in an area marked with chalk sigils on the ground. Vanitas let go of him- holding Joshua was a far better idea than the inverse- and fixed the shredded skirt on his jumpsuit.

"I didn't hate this before," Vanitas admitted. "But I sure as hell do now."

He watched the masses of people go about their day, not one person giving them a glance. To be fair, Joshua would look normal- normal enough, at least- to the casual observer.

"So what was that about people running to me?" Vanitas asked.

Joshua just pointed down. "Anti-weirdness sigil, in so many words. We have them all over the city so that we can move Reapers and other anomalies to safe spaces quickly. Normal people just don't see anything at all. Step out of it and you'll be perceived again. If you want to summon a big Unversed before you're hounded by tourists this is the place to do it."

"Ah," Vanitas said simply.

"Oh, and, I appreciate the threats earlier," Joshua added. "I'd rather be held accountable. Especially after… some things I've done before."

"It's not as much fun if you're okay with it," Vanitas mock whined. "I thought we were pretty cool back there."

"**Extremely**," Joshua said, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You have friends, and you stood up for them."

Something squawked loudly behind Vanitas and he slapped his forehead.

"Not **now**," he whined, craning his neck to see an irate peacock in his shadow. "**Please **go away."

"For meeeeeee?" Joshua added, almost cutely. The peacock dove into the shadow as the thing grew and boiled angrily. A giant beast atop a cage took its place.

"Didn't actually think that'd work," Joshua said surprised. "Hello there, big and angry. Gonna keep those handsy commuters in line?"

The massive Iron Imprisoner Unversed just grunted and curled around Vanitas. Joshua didn't pry into what emotion Vanitas had to tap just to make the giant creature appear, but given its sharper edges and color scheme, it wasn't pleasant like Vanitas's lion or peacock.

"Well, that's sorted," Joshua said, mentally changing subjects, watching as Sora landed with Gabriel, taking the guise of Kairi. He almost felt bad for Sora for that. **Almost**. Sora had the real deal back in the apartment, at least.

"Showtime?" Joshua reminded, making a shooing motion with his hands.

"I **guess**," Vanitas huffed. "C'mon Flood, let's be -ugh- **social**."

Joshua chuckled as Vanitas and his massive Unversed left the protective circle to join Sora and "Kairi", now accompanied by Riku and Tomo, dumped off by Komaeda and Uriel who were in matching fake Square Enix polos and directing traffic around the 'cosplayers'. They needed to keep the stunt to only an hour or so, before media appeared and the real Square over in Shinjuku got word to shut them down.

Joshua found the idea of Square Enix employees shooing the real Sora and Riku away from tourists **hilarious**.

His hip buzzed, and he grabbed for his phone, watching a mass from around the five of them, signaling to Vanitas to come back inside the circle if he got overwhelmed, by writing letters in the air with colored magic.

FOWL: one new voicemail.

Joshua frowned, putting the phone to his ear after pressing play.

"Hello, my angelic friend. This is Artemis, and I apologize for not letting you know when we took off twelve hours ago, however we left Haven in less than ideal circumstance. I will recount what occurred once we've settled with you. There are thirteen of us, if you can not accommodate I am sure I can procure hotel reservations. **Anyway**. It is twelve fifteen in the afternoon local time and we've just landed in Haneda International Airport. We are en route to Shibuya. May I have an exact address at your earliest convenience?"

Joshua stared at his phone for a solid minute. It was already 12:30. **Thirteen **people?

"**Fuck**."

* * *

_**vexen for team dad. even without a heart, dude has his head in the right place. as much as he can, at least.**_

_**and before you all ask, yes i made sure tomo/repliku gets the reunion he deserves, with both vex n namine. it'll happen soon :D**_


	32. meeting lady luck

**Twenty hours earlier, relatively speaking (give or take for localized time zones)**

"Heavy," Demyx grunted. "This ain't even… oh, there we go."

Donald turned from human back into a duck, and Demyx shifted him on a shoulder. His own coat morphed from a short studded jacket, much like Prompto's, to his real long leather trench, and Demyx skidded in Betwixt and Between.

"How're you doing, Goofy?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the man, reverted to his real form.

"I'm fine. My shield has protective charms. Rather not stay in here longer than needed, tho'," he replied.

"Keep holding on to me," Demyx ordered, as he took one arm out of his coat, waited for Goofy to switch, then the other, wrapping Donald in it.

"Ain't that the only thing protectin' ya?"

"I've got natural immunity, too, all Nobodies do," Demyx retorted, as the two resumed their run. "Even Roxas, who uses light magic. He could still traverse these for longer than a human could without the coat."

"Just don't push yourself."

"Thanks,**dad**."

Demyx didn't see it, but behind him, gripping his shoulder tightly with one hand and his shield the other, Goofy was grinning.

* * *

"He'll be fine, you two. **Shoo**! Ienzo's group already came and left fifteen minutes ahead of you."

Ansem, exhausted, but alert, took Donald from Demyx's coat, returning the garment. "And keep this. You still need to get to Destiny Islands, don't you?"

"Not without shaking down that gambling smart aaaaa…Alec," Demyx said with a frown, correcting himself from a much harsher word in front of Radiant Garden's king.

"Rudol's already left with them."

"Well, then," Goofy said adamantly, "what're we waitin' for?"

Demyx grabbed his new friend by the elbow. "Think fast, pup!" he quipped, before ripping open another portal outbound to the islands, and their final destination.

* * *

"Oh, thisss isssn't even ssssslightly funny," Demyx moaned, patting himself down. Liizard-y, was how he'd describe himself, and when he exhaled, a small spark of fire came with it. "What am I now, a heartlessss? And not even a water or iccccce type."

"You n' me both, I think, Demyx," Goofy replied, wiggling his scaly black tail. "Though we've both got our minds intact."

"I know I'm sssshorter than you but thissss issss ridiculoussss," Demyx whined, barley coming up to Goofy's scaly armored elbows. "Sssure we're in the right placccce?"

"They did confirm we're on the right world, or at least the portal to Destiny Islands was right, a'hyuck."

Demyx sighed out a stream of flame and pulled his phone out of his coat, which, oddly, retained its form. The only thing both he and Goofy lost were their gloves. Not that he could imagine wearing any with sharp scaly fingers.

Demyx searched for Aqua's number, allowing the phone to autodial. "Aqua? It'ssss Demyxxxx. Ssssory, but entering thissss world gave me a forked tongue."

"Look for a pink roof, and warp there," a voice piped up.

"Ienzzzzo? Ugh, I hate thissss," Demyx whined. "Be right there." Demyx could just barely see a pink roof and a small group of mismatched creatures and- **Rudol**.

"Thissss sssssuckssssss."

Demyx grabbed Goofy, and quickly opened a portal to the space away and down, pulling both of them through.

* * *

A boy in a suit, roughly Goofy's current height, began to laugh so hard he was sobbing.

"A goblin? A **goblin**? You poor, poor friend."

"What about me?" a centaur that looked and sounded roughly like Ienzo pointed out, tapping his fingers in the crook of an arm. "I have two left feet!"

"It's not like you could dance before, what's the difference?" one of the twin green creatures with wings choked out.

"Look, can people jusssst tell me who they are?" Demyx asked, annoyed. "We've had a really, **really **long day."

"Hsssss," the other green twin said, the two of them smirking at each other.

The centaur ignored them, and rolled his eyes. "It's Ienzo. Good to see you, Demyx. Ignore them. I think them turning into fairies turned their brains to mush."

Xion shook her head. She and Aqua were the only recognizable ones, aside from Rudol himself. The two women were only shrunken in size, with pointed elven ears. "Sorry, Ienzo, but put Roxas and Ventus in a room together and it's like some weird twin feedback loop. You missed all the pranks they played on Lea and Aqua in the time Sora and Kairi were missing."

Ienzo scratched at the nub of a horn on his head. "Ah, yes. Vexen and I were too busy working on Naminé's replacement body to spend much time away from the lab until the party."

"Replacement body? Cloning?" the boy asked, his laughter long died down, almost as if it had been an act in the first place.

Ienzo gave a soft smile. "Sort of. It's… well, its more to give a body to a lost soul. It's not a matter of granting immortality. Though, my mentor and I are looking into using our research to be able to provide replacement limbs and organs. Anyway… Demyx… why are there only two of you?"

"Oh, yeah," Demyx replied sheepishly. "Donald absssorbed too much of the ambient darknessss magic in the world we ended up in. We dropped him off at Anssssem'sss to recover."

"He'll be fine, seems like," Goofy interjected. "And it's Goofy. I'm not a Heartless, am I, a'hyuck?"

"Demon, and it's Terra," the other demon offered. "Don't worry, it's just a species here," he added quickly, to assuage Goofy's panic.

"Aqua, but hopefully that was clear, I think Xion and I got off easy," Aqua offered.

"So, Ventus, and Roxas?" Goofy asked, staring at the twins, noticing one with shoulder armor, and the other without. They pouted, a clear sign Goofy was right.

"You might have heard my own voice on the conference call. I am Artemis," the boy stated, the introductions complete amongst themselves complete. "And my bodyguard, Butler."

"Well, what now? Ssssome world ending crap we have to help you with? Monsssstersss to kill?"

"The only killing we will be doing," Butler- a mountain to begin with, but Olympus to Demyx as a three foot goblin- gruffed out, "is time. In, all of you."

Demyx looked at his phone clock. 8AM Tuesday the 24th. "What time issss it where Ssssora and Riku are?" He really needed to come up with synonyms that didn't have so many S sounds.

"They are eight hours ahead. And once we have permission to go topside, it'll be about fifteen hours to get there, from getting to the plane, flying it, and landing."

Fifteen hours in a Gummiship? Demyx would practically die of boredom.

* * *

**Precisely not twenty hours earlier- because time is a mental construct and Riku's on death's door anyway:**

"Why are they screaming?" Vanitas hissed at Sora in their own language. Sora had just offered his hand to Vanitas to ground the increasingly panicked teenager, and now, a small gaggle of girls their age were practically fainting.

"**Shippers**," Gabriel hissed at them back in their own language. "And they're Americans to boot. So **loud**. Hang on."

Quickly, she flicked Sora and Vanitas in the forehead. Vanitas winced. It was like a few days ago when Joshua gave him the ability to speak and understand Japanese, a million things and yet nothing at all filling his head.

After a moment of garbled noises, he was finally able to pick out their conversation. "Ohmygosh, Jessssssss ask them if they'll kiss for a selfie!"

Vanitas actually winced from the pitch and Flood hissed at the girl.

"Flood, chill," Vanitas said at his Unversed, trying out the new tongue. It had entirely too many consonants.

"Eeeee, you speak English too? Holy shit, he sounds JUST like Hayley!"

"Like **who**?" Vanitas asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Your English VA!" one squealed. "Oh my god, you and Sora are really twins aren't you? Can we have a selfie?"

Vanitas was fairly sure Gabriel had correctly given him the ability to speak the girls' language, yet not a word made sense to him.

"**Selfie**, Vanitas," Sora interjected. "They want a photo."

The girls squealed again and Vanitas grit his teeth, his Iron Imprisioner looming behind protectively. He'd survived an unrelenting onslaught of pain and abuse his entire existence. He could tolerate some shrieking banshees for an hour.

"Smiiiiiile!" one of the girls cried as they all squeezed around him and Sora. Vanitas squeezed Sora's hand tightly just out of frame and received a gentle squeeze in return.

Flood calmed down as it grounded him. Vanitas attempted to smile, but quickly changed it to a smirk. The girls cooed again.

He rolled his eyes and handed out pins to a chorus of "thank youuuuuuuu!"s as another group ran up for photographs and to say hello.

Vanitas quickly realized that three lines were actually forming- one for Sora and 'Kairi', one for Riku and Tomo… and a third for him and his Unversed, of which more and more pooled around his feet and out of his shadow as people crowded, unworried by snarls and pointed teeth. A few commented on the 'special effects' of their little stunt, one older man slyly asking him how the technology worked.

Letting the Unversed out helped, and the gaggle of onlookers reaching out to give them head pats and scratches was… oddly calming.

Gabriel had been right.

People wanted to meet… **him**.

His invisible wings relaxed just a little, and when another teenage girl grabbed his shoulder to pull him in closer for a photograph, he didn't even flinch.

* * *

"Hey, if you weren't so slow you would have gotten a pin," Vanitas sneered. "If you're lucky I **might **be back tomorrow morning," he added haughtily. It was almost funny, playing off a caricature of himself but the audience was eating it up. He palmed one of the un-enchanted pins, slipping it into her hands, with Neku's pretty impressive sketch of Flood on it. He'd saved it for himself but he could always grab another from the bags back in the apartment meant for Thursday morning. "Just this once," he added, dripping with malice in his voice. "Don't get used to it, lady. I eat hearts like yours for breakfast."

The young woman giggled, blowing him a kiss and a "Thank you Vaniiiiiitaaaaaas!" before bounding off.

"Wrap it up, Heroes," Komaeda said, with a knowing nod. "Sorry, folks, they've got worlds to save!"

"Or destroy," Vanitas added with a hiss and a kneel, biting his lip and unleashing a few of his pot Unversed from his shadow. The crowd cheered, and he quickly stuffed his feelings down, drawing them back. He beckoned to Iron, stepping up into a massive hand, and sneered at the crowd before materializing his helmet back on, carried back off to the sigil by his Unversed.

Once out of sight, he shuddered a little and sat on the sidewalk, closing his eyes to breathe. Flood curled up in his lap as he stroked it, absentmindedly, cursing his gloves. Slowly, he sucked Iron Imprisioner back into his shadow, willingly swallowing the feelings.

He **hadn't **panicked. He'd freely let Unversed exit and enter his shadow after he watched the others summon Keyblades or small magical effects to the crowd. It felt… good. Like a weight on his shoulders had been lifted, shown off, then dumped in the nearest ocean with **extreme **prejudice.

"I… just let my emotions roam as they needed," he realized out loud. "For the love of… If it were that simple…"

"Sometimes it is," Riku said. "It's how I learned to channel my darkness, at least. Also, no offense, but I thought you'd last five minutes. I'm impressed."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Silver," Vanitas replied, dripping with sarcasm.

"Five minutes was five more than I guessed," Sora commented sheepishly, shifting from one foot to the other in the sigil. "I feel… really weird. Um… out of place."

"Yeah, public cosplay's kinda just a thing for drunk foreigners and Halloween, or, more drunk foreigners, really," Gabriel replied, shifting back to her form. "Usually cosplay's kinda restricted to specific parts of Comiket and stuff. You all stick out like a sore thumb."

"Thanks for the reminder," Tomo grumbled. "Also… where's Joshua? Wasn't he here?"

"Tomo's right," Uriel said, scanning the crowds. "Maybe he got a snack or-"

The entire group winced as Uriel's, Gabriel's and Komaeda's phones blared, as well as a few others around the station.

"Speak of the Angel," Komaeda muttered, holding up their phone. "**Look**."

* * *

"An arcade?" Demyx asked, and he would have raised an eyebrow if he had hair at the moment.

"We just need to wait for Holly to procure surface visas," Butler said, shrugging. "This is the best place to wait. Last thing Haven needs is nine super-powered aliens posing as their own running around without a chaperone."

"**Eight**," Rudol insisted. "I'm just a human."

"And I'm the queen of England; no offense, but I trust you as far as Artemis can throw you," Butler countered.

Rudol opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it. Butler dropped a swipe-card in his open hand.

"I'll get everyone some more," Butler offered with a small smile, looking diagonally down at his charge. "It seems you all need to cool your heels a while."

* * *

Rudol propped an elbow up on the slot machine. "Hardly sporting when one can stop the reels themselves," he muttered. "Where's the luck?"

"There isn't any, it's a game of skill," Artemis said, shrugging, plopping on the stool next to him as he knocked his free knuckles on the machine. "And why didn't you change like the others?" he added, getting straight to the point as he watched the group seated at an eight player racing cabinet, egging each other on. From their shouts, Terra was clearly in the lead. It sounded like it was something he'd done before.

"They all went in search of Sora and Riku, it seems," Rudol said, pocketing his card and turning to watch the rest of the group. "They found me, near death, on one of the world's they were searching after they'd already put on a cloak of glamour. They change with the worlds, I do not. I couldn't even understand you until Aqua fixed it so."

"Then why did you come?"

Rudol smiled a little, returning a question with one of his own. "To fix something I did in a past life. Why are you, a stranger, helping us? From the way your bodyguard speaks, I doubt it's altruism alone."

"The Angels promised us a wish. I will never pass up the opportunity to be beholden to. You never know when it can come in handy."

"I… suppose not," Rudol considered, pulling out and flicking around the plastic arcade card compulsively, as if it were one of his own old magicked cards.

"Most of them have never driven even an arcade car before," Artemis said with mild disdain, watching Terra kick back while Demyx was still on his second of three laps, cursing with a forked tongue.

"And you have?"

"I have a flight license, a car is nothing but an easier airplane," Artemis replied, a slight aura of confidence.

"What say you to the next round, then?" Rudol asked, hands steepled. "A wager, to boot."

"Oh? And what could Mister-No-Magic possibly offer me if they lose?"

Artemis was right, Rudol didn't have anything to his name, did he? He flicked the plastic card between his fingers, absentmindedly, thinking what he could even offer the boy in trade.

Flick… flick… the card flung from one hand to another like a practiced magician as Xion crossed the finish line, Roxas whining as his computerized racing glider drifted into a black dust cloud.

Rudol flicked the card from his right hand to his left, but it clinked on the stone floor, his left hand catching an entirely different item instead.

A Keyblade.

* * *

"Mayhaps I wasn't so helpless," Rudol admitted as he picked up the Keyblade, having clattered to the floor in surprise. He was just glad the others were focused on watching Demyx scrape over the finish line in last place to notice him in the Casino of Skill corner. "I haven't held you in centuries, Lady Luck."

"You name your swords?" Artemis asked, incredulously.

"They… rather name themselves," Rudol said, opening the tiny card box that was attached via a gold ribbon to the hilt, acting as the sleek keyblade's chain. The key itself was narrow steel, curled around a spinning roulette wheel that acted as the blade's key teeth. His tarot cards were all nestled inside, just as he remembered. He pulled out the tiny cards, and they expanded to full size. With a small grin, he flung them, counted to five and closed and reopened the box.

Like a good magic trick, they were all neatly tucked back inside. Rudol flicked his fingers, dispersing the Keyblade as if he'd done it all his life.

If being a Nobody didn't count as living, he more or less **had**.

"Artemis, in the unlikely event you lose our little contest, I offer to you a tarot card reading. **With the deck you just saw**. It is… well, let me say fighting is not my strong suit. Magic, however, very much **is**."

* * *

"Hello, my good friends," Artemis said, almost a hair too sweetly. "We'd like a go, if you don't mind."

"Goofy and **I **can barely fit in the saddle," Terra said, sliding off his racing vehicle, somewhere between a motorcycle and a broomstick.

"I will manage," Rudol said, straddling one, his knees practically at his chest like a drunk adult attempting to ride a grocery store child's amusement.

"You never asked me what you'd want if I won," Artemis hissed. "Don't tell me you plan to throw this match after complaining earlier."

"I'm sure you can think of something fair," Rudol replied, simply, as he swiped his card and chose his in-game vehicle.

* * *

"How?" Artemis asked, looking at the screen. "An even tie, down to the millisecond. That's… that's **unfeasible**."

"Or merely lucky," Rudol said with a light smile, patting at his reversed Ten of Swords tucked securely in his jacket pocket.

His magic had returned.

* * *

THWACK THWACK THWACK… **DING**!

If Terra had sweat glands as a demon, he'd be drenched. As it were, he merely panted with his mouth wide open, staring at the whack-a-troll score. 257, not only the highest of the group, but handily setting a new machine record for the week.

Artemis frowned. He detested physical labor, and the group in front of him were comprised of more swordfighters than not. At least he hadn't had the worst score so far, that went to Ienzo. To be fair, the teen also had new limbs to contend with and would occasionally kick out a leg instead of moving his arm.

"Would it be remiss to ask for a second chance?" Ienzo asked sheepishly. "I'd like to see if I can do better than thirty."

"**Twenty-seven**," Roxas corrected under his breath, seemingly happy he'd outperformed his friend for some reason.

The group stepped back, to allow him another shot at the machine. Aqua swiped her arcade card, and it sprung to life. The plastic trolls roared, and Ienzo smacked the first three with little effort. The fourth sprung out, and, rather than smacking it, Ienzo accidentally kicked out a hind leg again.

Right into the back of a passing goblin.

"D'arvit, wot the 'eck, mun?"

"I am so, so terribly sorry!" Ienzo cried, as the machine continued to roar at them for missing so many.

"You better be, mate," the goblin roared, as Demyx mentally took notes on him-her perhaps?- avoiding 's' sounds.

The goblin laughed, and burped up a nasty fireball right in Ienzo's face, singing off a chunk of his hair and torching his horn stubs.

"Lay off!" Demyx cried, secretly happy with his unconscious word choice.

The goblin snorted. "Takin' that donkey-butt opinion, are we? Yer a traitor to yer Familly, innit?"

"My **family **isssss right damn here!" Demyx said, either ignoring or completely missing the point of the very audibly spoken uppercase F in family. Species before outsiders, it meant.

Demyx punched the goblin square in the jaw.

"Now ye' dunnit! Boyssss!" Seven more goblins popped from virtually nowhere, one even brandishing a light gun he'd ripped straight from the cabinet, its wire hanging loose. They **charged**.

Ienzo yanked on the whack-a-troll mallet until the cable connecting it to the machine went taut, acting as a waist high tripwire to two of the irate goblins.

"Waterga!" Demyx shouted, annoyed, drenching the goblins and about a dozen arcade machines, some of them sparking. Given his body now naturally produced fire, he wasn't even sure it would work, let alone be that impressively strong.

A stout man- possibly an elf or some other subspecies Demyx didn't know, waddled over to the group, more fire in his eyes than the goblins blew from their mouths.

"Out. Of. My. Arcade," he bellowed. "Lot of you."

"They sssssstarted it!" Demyx cried.

"Well, I'm ending it. **Out**."

* * *

Artemis sat sullenly on a park bench, nearly pulling out his hair from boredom. "Holly better have that paperwork soon or I swear, Butler I will- oh."

Holly landed, her pair of mechanical wings slotting neatly behind at a standstill. "Nine visas, as myself, Foaly, you and Butler do not need them," she said cheerfully, looking at the much expanded group. "And exactly enough, too, it seems. Thank goodness you're not a person more, do you have any idea how annoying gnome bureaucracy is? And all of you, why the long faces?"

"Let'sssss never ssssspeak of it," Demyx hissed. "**Ever**."

Butler frowned, but stood, ready to head to the shuttleport and the surface above. "Agreed," he grumbled. Even in trying to do something nice and relaxing, it seemed like Artemis attracted trouble like vinegar to flies.

* * *

"Hello," Joshua's voice spoke cleanly though the phone, his face small but visible from phone screens, both Komaeda's old flip model and the other angels' touchscreen ones. "This is Joshua. I apologize for waking anyone. It is currently 1:37 PM Wednesday, August 25th. I am the Composer if Shibuya. For the Reapers utterly lost as to why I'd waste my breath given my rather public face here, it's for a simple reason.

"I am contacting **all **dead phones. This includes Players."

Gabriel audibly gasped. "Holy shit."

"Why didn't our phones go off?" Sora asked, holding his up. Vanitas and Tomo didn't have phones of their own, but he and Riku certainly did.

"Not part of the game and shush," Uriel hissed.

"Now that you've all had a moment to stand there with your mouths open, I have a direct order. All dead in Shibuya- yes **all**, save those who will receive separate, explicit instructions from me to the contrary- are to meet in the Dead God's Pad at five PM sharp. Dinner will be provided. Players will be able to move freely through the city, should they finish their objectives before their timers elapse.

"If you do not know where the Dead God's Pad is located, be at Hachiko no later than 4:45 to be escorted by a Reaper."

Joshua stilled a little, his wings fluttering just off frame as he leaned bored against a polished black marble countertop, in front of what looked to be an extremely expensive bar.

"No keypins will be needed to enter. Starting at 4:30, all dead may freely come inside.

"Failure to comply without either having an **extremely **good, communicated excuse or previously mentioned prior mission will result in immediate Erasure for players and Alpha-level disciplinary action for Reapers. Attendance is, therefore, **mandatory**."

Joshua inhaled sharply, and looked like he was about to finish with something even more serious. "Any players with a food allergy or religious or moral restriction please alert a Reaper by three PM to have their dietary needs accounted for," he concluded, before the video finished.

The seven of them stared dumbstruck at the three phones for a solid minute in complete silence.

"Hey, um…" Tomo asked, a bit helplessly, "can we go back and change first?"

* * *

_**PART TWO: SCRAMBLE FOR CONVERGENCE.**_  
_**-END-**_

_**section two is over! home stretch now... heads up next chapter vanitas finds out he's not totally fine the hard way. the /really/ hard way.**_

_**vanitas and aqua are finally going to have to deal with Feelings and its not gonna be pretty. thank you as always for the continued reviews and opinions, a personal shoutout to /the unplanner/ on AO3- thank you for the suggestion! i don't really prefer going back and doing major chapter changes, but thinking about it, you're not wrong that vex would probably use something a bit more detached and medical to describe He Who Must Not Be Named. i've never played CoM and only know 358/2 from the KH cutscenes in the collection, so the tiny bit i know of Vex is really from KH3 and BBS, plus the KH wiki. as i am legally blind, the mobile games (those plus KHUX and Coded) weren't an option- i only got to play BBS and DDD because of the HD remasters on my giant projector.**_

_**that reminds me. with the trailer release for remind, theres a strong fan theory that Luxord's somebody's real name is Ludor (as in the latin word for onesself- frankly it makes more sense than other rearrangements), should that turn out to be true (or Demyx's name revealed to be something other than Myde)... wondering if i should edit this fic or not...**_


	33. solving world peace in 3 days

_**warning: This chapter was by far the hardest to write (even the final fight was easier, as it's fairly straightforward...). Gabriel is not a trained therapist, do not try her suggestions at home, people.**_

* * *

"Just a head's up," Gabriel added, checking her missed texts once the video ended, "Josh left early because the other group arrived. Thirteen more people, looks like. I'm going to need to copy another floor or two, sheesh. This is getting stupid."

"**Thirteen**?" Sora and Riku asked in unison, before Sora commented further. "That's… over twenty people total came for us."

"For you," Vanitas clarified under his breath. Sora silently offered him a hand to squeeze, but he didn't take it.

"Look, can someone just bring me a change of clothes to the roof?" Vanitas asked, irritable. "And maybe some lunch?"

"Is it that bad?" Uriel asked.

"If it's the Do-Gooder Trio from the Land of Departure, yeah, it is," Vanitas huffed.

"Didn't Aqua say she's willing to give you a second chance?"

"Doesn't mean she will. Words are cheap as spit," Vanitas hissed.

"They're probably going to come to the staff meeting later," Tomo said simply. "You night as well get it out of your system before there's a fight in front of every dead person in the city."

Vanitas glared angrily at Tomo. "Why does it suck so much that you're right?" he asked, frowning. "**Fine**. But if there's any property damage I'm not responsible."

"I can fix a broken mat or shoji screen," Gabriel replied, hooking her arms around Sora to carry him back to the apartment. "I can fix a broken bone too. Broken souls though? That's a whole lot harder."

"Who's waiting for a late pickup?" Uriel asked the other three, though she didn't really need to.

"Give me a few minutes to stew," Vanitas asked. "And anyway, if Noise attack, I can fight them alone. You can't."

The minute the three pairs were out of view, Vanitas fell, rear end on the sidewalk in the center of the sigil, head in his hands. It was like he'd been deflated- someone had pricked him with pin and there it went, all the fun and joy he'd had in this world, quickly pulled from it by the consequences of the other. The only people from his old life who even cared were already here, like him…

His shadow boiled, and surrounded by thousands of everyday people walking inches from him in complete ignorance, he wailed.

* * *

"Vanitas."

The teen's wings had drooped, and he was practically melting into the sigil, the thing almost completely coated with a softly bubbling shadow, twinkling with countless sets of red eyes.

Flood stood behind him, almost fifteen feet tall, practically absorbing him into his fur.

"Vanitas." Gabriel's voice was a little more firm this time, as she searched for a safe place to land. Carefully, she flapped over the inside edge of the sigil, and the shadow parted, if only a little.

It wasn't a shadow, but an overlapping mass of tiny Floods. Tentatively, Gabriel bent down to stroke the moving carpet, unworried about Unversed bites. It was just a corporeal form anyway, she could always make another.

The boiling shadow chittered.

**Friend**, it said.

"Yes, friend," she said to the quivering wreck of countless Unversed. "Vanitas, you have to let go. Feel what you feel, but remember, they're just… feelings. God, I was never good at this stuff. Uriel's the eloquent one," she hissed. A Flood came loose from the puddle, hopping in her lap, pushing its snout into her hand.

"Yes, yes, pets. You want validation. You're afraid, Vanitas. But right now you're asking for something passive," she said, absentmindedly, stroking it. The capital-F flood cornering Vanitas shrank, if only by a foot; its arms pulled back enough for Gabriel to get a peek at Vanitas's face.

His eyes were dull, flat, devoid of life.

And they were orange.

* * *

Gabriel stomped loudly in her oversized sneakers- more to get the Floods to scamper away like she were parting the Red Sea, than because they were ill-sized- and plopped down an inch from Vanitas.

"Ahem."

Vanitas remained unresponsive.

"I'm not going to touch your Unversed, well, other than pets. Harming them just creates a stupid feedback loop. If anyone understands you besides Sora, it's damn well me. Never though being a nerd might actually come in legit handy, but here we are."

Gabriel sighed and cocked her head. "I am not a trained therapist. Really should go back to college for it. Last time I had to make myself a dude just to get considered, it sucks, y'know? But that was like… 1950's? Human meds have changed a ton…"

"For the love of… shut up," Vanitas croaked out.

Gabriel beamed. "I'll keep talking 'till you strangle me, Vanitas."

"I… no… no more." One of his pupils blew out as his left iris turned a little more red. It was a start.

"What? Hurt? I'm **offering **to be a punching bag. You literally can't harm me, and not in the 'your strength was your fee' way. I'm a God-forsaken angel, Vanitas, and that phrase was extremely literal." Gabriel smiled. "If you're not going to strangle me, then hug me."

"Hate… being…"

"How'd you get here then? You held Josh. You were in control. Here, look, I'm even putting my wings away."

With an odd thworp sound, Gabriel's wings sucked forwards into her back, a stray broken feather slowly dropping down on a flood's head. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and waited.

Slowly, Vanitas uncurled, and reached forward, pulling her to him, and locking her in his arms.

"A good squeeze, if you please," Gabriel insisted.

Vanitas almost harrumphed. "Needy."

"Look, Vanitas. I've been playing these games for almost two decades, and three days ago a bunch of the characters are real and come to us like wet cats hiding from a storm. Come on, needy doesn't even-"

"Just shut up," Vanitas muttered, holding her tightly. She was the exact amount of warm for comfort on a hot August day.

"Can I put my chin on your shoulder?"

"You're invading my space already."

She slotted in further, and Vanitas almost swore she made herself a little shorter to fit. Experimentally, he began running his hand on her back, before a grin formed, and he pressed upward with his thumbs in the spot she'd shown them the night before.

Gabriel shrieked, her wings materializing and spasming upwards from the reflex. "Hey!"

Vanitas laughed uncontrollably, the floods popping out of existence in droves until only Flood was left, shrinking rapidly.

"You got your cry out?" Gabriel asked, after the worst of his haywire emotions settled.

"No," Vanitas answered honestly. "Not even close."

"Good, because there was no way I'd believe you on a yes. Also…"

"Hm?" Vanitas pulled his arms away to pull Flood to his chest.

"Sora, Riku, and Tomo are having words with the Wayfinder Trio right now. They're going to be the ones on a short leash, not you. **You're **one of us, they're just guests- remember that."

"Wayfinder?" Vanitas asked, scrunching his nose as he wiped away snot on the arm of his bodysuit. He'd worry about cleaning it later.

"It's a… fan nickname for Ventus, Aqua, and Terra as a group."

"Should've guessed," he hissed. "All right, I'm not going to get any less shitty in the foreseeable future, let's get it over with."

"Vanitas?"

"Just fly already before Flood's too big to carry."

"I was going to say… don't let your feelings fester. Especially when you can literally hand them over to someone."

"No way in hell am I trusting **her **with my fears," Vanitas grumbled as he gripped Gabriel's midsection, the angel taking off at speed.

* * *

Tomo was bouncing from one foot to the other, outside their apartment door. "Fuck!" he uncharacteristically muttered to himself as the elevator dinged and Gabriel and Vanitas exited. Flood wasn't gargantuan, but it **was **at least four feet tall and hissing like an irritated cat.

"You look how I feel," Tomo said, reaching out to scratch Flood under the chin, the beast chittering nervously. Tomo still hadn't changed out of his bodysuit, in fact, it looked like he'd never actually gone inside the apartment proper.

Vanitas snorted. "What'd'you have to worry about? 'S'not like you have to face people you tried to murder."

"No I don't. I have to face someone I **did**."

Vanitas froze. "You **what**," he asked, dead flat.

"I… killed Ienzo. Or, rather, I killed Zexion. His Nobody. Axel- the tall, skinny one with the red hair from earlier?- he goaded me into it. I… I **strangled him to death**, Vanitas."

"So? You did him a favor, right? Killing a Nobody revives their human. He should be thankin-"

"I still **murdered **him, Vanitas," Tomo cut off, panicked. "Gabriel, you've played our games. Tell me, does he remember?"

Gabriel looked down, afraid to answer. "A lot of fanfic writers- um… fans, who write their own stories about games or comics- they think so, because Lea did in the most recent game, but… he's not that big a character, so I dunno. The only way to find out is by asking."

"And?"

"And what?" Vanitas asked dryly.

"Can you take some of your own advice?" Tomo asked. He was met with a dry snort of a laugh from Vanitas, the closest to a 'hell no' that he was going to get.

"Pair of idiots, the both of you. Okay. Listen. I'll ask them to go to my room. You go and find regular clothes and change, and I'll scrounge up leftovers for lunch. And all of us are going to sit and talk this out like the adults we aren't," Gabriel insisted.

Flood grew half a meter.

* * *

Vanitas tossed his jumpsuit in a pile with Tomo's. "Can you just burn them?" he asked, staring down at the pair of thick, neoprene-ish fabric bodysuits, as he pulled on a heather-gray T shirt and his favorite new short-sleeve windbreaker over it.

"You looked like you were having a lot of fun at the station," Tomo said, looking down at them, nicking one of Riku's polos since his stack of t's had mysteriously disappeared. The newcomers were probably using them, and Vanitas and Sora were too short for most of them to take from. Even Kairi was taller, now.

"Yeah," Vanitas admitted. In the corner of the second floor, Flood shrunk a little; Rhyme had taken a break from pressing more cursed pins with the hand-crank machine to let it play with her hot pink wings. She was materializing and willing them away, almost like she were playing peek-a-boo. Flood was delighted, cackling every time they popped back into existence with a tiny crack.

"Didn't know this one could get so huge," Beat called from the other side of the shoji screen that separated where Tomo and Vanitas were changing. "This how big it was when we ran into ya on Monday?"

"Bigger," Vanitas said dryly, sliding open the screen to see just how large Flood was. "Maybe two or three times bigger. It changes size when I'm…"

"**Agitated**," Tomo finished for him, flapping his own wings a few times, offering the adjective in lieu of 'frightened to my goddamn wit's end'.

Vanitas only snorted in thanks, rolling his neck and stepping out to the main part of the room.

"Heard you guys did good," Neku said, looking up from sketching more pins. "NicoNico's trending. There's at least five different people claiming to know how you all did the -ahem- special effects." Neku added air quotes for emphasis.

"So, when're ya gonna sock Josh today?" Beat asked him, elbowing, as he continued to work on tightening a skateboard.

"Probably when he's in front of every dead person in Shibuya," he replied candidly, holding up his phone to show the video. "Though… can we even enter the sewers? That's holy ground. Um, you guys know about the mandatory meeting today, right?"

Vanitas nodded. "And… that's why I'm… er, **agitated**."

"You 'n Josh get along fine, what's the problem? Crowds? Place is huge, just find a corner to hide in," Beat offered.

Vanitas sighed and flopped on the tatami, accidentally sending some of the pin inserts flying. Flood had shrunk a little more, and now Shiki, who had also been drawing, was giving the needy thing attention. "Crowds don't help, but… er. One of the people who came for Sora and I are… let's say, 'not on good terms', is a mild understatement."

"Aqua?" Shiki asked. "The woman with blue hair, right?"

Vanitas turned pink, and Flood grew bigger, eliciting a yelp from Shiki as it flopped on top of her.

"We… did what Gabriel suggested, and binged the game cutscenes," Neku admitted. "We watched some Monday night, and more last night after you all were asleep."

"And you're not scared out of your wits by me?" Vanitas asked, brow raised.

"Honestly, after that, I'm way more scared of **Sora**," Neku said with a shrug, as he resumed his drawing. "If you want an actual honest answer… it's not fear, Vanitas. Its… **well**. It's pity."

Vanitas bristled at that. "I don't want anyone's damn pity."

"Never thought you would. But a friend?" Neku asked.

"If… you can keep it occupied," Vanitas said, jabbing a thumb at Flood, "while I reacquaint myself with… her… I'll… I'll take the help," he choked out. It was foreign to him. Asking for help.

"Vanitas, you've been dead three days, it took me like three weeks to even start opening up," Beat offered.

"Same," Neku added, waving a colored pencil. "I'm still working on it, why do you think I've been a runner to Shinjuku for the month of our summer break? I'm trying to expand my world, piece by piece. And that means reaching out to others, even if you might get hurt in the process."

Vanitas eyed Flood. "And that's what I'm afraid of."

* * *

Vanitas, Tomo, Neku, Shiki, Beat and Rhyme all sat on one side of the massive low table set on the second floor, waiting for the other group to be escorted up.

Vanitas realized the whole apartment had been deathly quiet. Maybe Uriel and Gabriel had cast something that prevented sound from moving, because if the first group were all sleeping, one thing Vanitas was sure of was that Isa's snoring should have passed through the ceiling overhead. That face scar he had as both Sai'x and Isa was not conducive to proper breathing through his nose. Most of the New Org members had cast as many Silence charms as they knew or stuffed their ears full of cotton. Some nights it still wasn't enough.

Vanitas's suspicions were confirmed as Gabriel slid the screen aside, opening to the stairwell down to the actual, original apartment, and an explosion of noise, one that was in their own language from home.

"Aqua, please. He's my other half."

"I will sit, and listen, but that's it, Ven," came a stern reply. Shiki wrapped her arms around Flood in a desperate attempt to keep him from growing. It almost worked.

"Aqua," came a deeper, stern voice. One Vanitas knew almost as well as Ventus's, due to how much he'd heard it recently. "We talked about this."

Vanitas heard a pained sigh, and a barely-there "fine", followed by a large crash.

"Ienzo!" shouted a group of voices.

"I'm… okay…" he muttered. "Hooves and stairs do not mix."

**Hooves**? Vanitas snorted, and Flood wavered, shrinking enough for Shiki to just barely hug it around the 'neck'.

"Keep making him laugh," Neku said, noticing the change.

"That'll just make some new Unversed," Vanitas grumbled.

"Better than one that can crush us all."

A prim-sounding male voice commented aloud in an unintelligible dialect, replied by a "Hey!" from Ienzo.

"How many languages do the people on this world use?" Tomo asked, also trying to calm himself down for the inevitable meeting with his former victim.

* * *

Vanitas thought it would be worse. Way worse. But that's the thing about worrying- it's writing an advanced check for a debt you might never owe.

Aqua walked up to the low table in a huff, and put down a tray of leftover rice balls a little too forcefully.

And Vanitas couldn't help but howl in laughter.

She was… **tiny**. As in, barely showing her head over the low table tiny. She couldn't be more than three feet tall.

She could probably ride on Flood at her current size.

Vanitas was practically pounding on the table, as Aqua glared sharply. But all that did was make Vanitas laugh harder. He could probably punt her out the window if he wanted. Not that he would, but the mental image was **immensely **satisfying.

"Is… is he drugged?" Aqua asked, her expression shifting from irritation to actual, genuine… was she **worried**?

"I didn't do anything," Gabriel said with a shrug. "Hey, Ienzo, do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, Foaly… ergh… Foaly is helping,"

"So are we!" Ventus's slightly muffled voice said, with an undertone of pouting.

"Ven, you are **hardly** helping," Terra grunted. "Either help by being something to hold on to or fly upstairs and out of the way."

The earlier unintelligible man's voice replied from down the stairwell as well.

"Suit yourself," Gabriel offered. "I can wait."

Ventus… or at least the creature that was a green flying Ventus… buzzed up and settled down next to Aqua.

"Is… is he broken?" Ven asked. Neku slapped his forehead against the table.

"I… no…" Vanitas choked between laughing sobs, his reaction renewed with the visage of his other half, not only short, but some sort of flying goblin thing. It looked like he'd been tossed in a vat of emerald dye, hair and all.

Vanitas's shadow boiled again, and Aqua immediately went on high alert. Tomo stood, to block her. "Don't even think about pulling out a Keyblade," he hissed. "Look, Flood is tame. As long as Vanitas is in control… or enough of it," he quickly added, given the teen's hysterics, "his Unversed won't attack. They're just his manifested emotions, get used to them."

"Riku?" Aqua said, sitting back down. "**Fine**."

Tomo wasn't going to correct her. Not yet, at least. If her thinking he was Riku made her stand down, so be it.

Just as the scaly, black demon that was Terra finally made his way up the stairs, holding tightly to a wobbling centaur's arm, Vanitas let out another burst of laughter, and a massive shrieking parrot behind him.

* * *

It was over. At least for Vanitas. His conflicting emotions spent until they took form, he'd finally calmed down enough to make actual sentences.

"I… I'm sorry," he admitted, looking the trio of misfits in their respective blue, green, and golden eyes. "I… there really isn't anything to say, is there?"

Terra was the calmest of the three, carefully running a clawed hand through the new Unversed's plumage. "There is not," he replied, glaring at Aqua and Ven. Though whether he was actually glaring or just looking at them was hard to gauge with a reptilian face and no eyebrows. "If there were, I'd be just as guilty. It's what you do now, now that **he's **gone…" Terra said, and everyone with hair felt theirs bristle, Gabriel included, "that's what determines how we'll deal with you. I'm willing to wipe my hands of everything from the Badlands and earlier, if you're willing to do the same. And I'll hold them to it, too," he added, nodding at Aqua and Ven.

Vanitas just stared, dumstruck. "There's no way in hell it's that easy, Terra," Vanitas said, quietly.

"Well," Terra replied, thoughtfully, scratching at a particularly annoying scale with his claw. "Last I checked, you're not in hell, are you?"

"I… I…" Vanitas started, before Neku offered him an onigiri.

"If you're going to keep your mouth hanging open, eat some lunch."

* * *

"Riku, what's the matter?" Ienzo asked Tomo, who most assuredly wasn't taking a bite of anything. "You were outside earlier, doing something for the Reapers, yes? I thought you and Sora went upstairs with the rest of them to catch up and rest up. Actually, for that matter, why did you ask me to stay downstairs in the first place, Gabriel? I feel like I intruded on something extremely private. Well, save the difficulty on stairs."

Tomo sighed. "I'm not Riku."

"Then-?"

Tomo looked across the table at the three foot tall centaur who more or less had Ienzo's face- though an odd chunk of hair had been burned off and horn nubs were poking out of his forehead- and made a choking motion to his own neck.

Ienzo's eyes widened to dinner plates. "You're… no. Oh… oh dear. I, er. I am sorry for your loss?" he asked, at a complete loss for words.

"That's it?" Tomo asked.

"That's why you separated me?" Ienzo asked Gabriel, before turning back to Tomo. "Oh, I can't say I was particularly happy about being strangled to death, but you saved my life, er… well. If you don't also go by Riku, what should I call you?"

"My name… it's Tomo."

Ienzo nodded, passing down a pitcher of lemonade. "**Tomo**. Well, thank you for killing me. I couldn't have asked for a better person to do me in."

Tomo shakily poured himself a glass. "You're… not mad?"

"No madder than Terra is about Vanitas," he replied, with an awkwardly dorky smile. "I assume that's what's been preventing you from relaxing yes? To be honest, I was worried about coming face to face with you, myself. I remember the phone call we all had where Riku warned us you were here. I've been thinking of how to thank you, but how does one thank someone for ending their life? Or starting it, in my case."

The other centaur looked oddly at Ienzo and began chattering away at him, and that was that.

The tension completely drained from the room, Vanitas finally allowed his shoulders to droop, relaxing his wings on his back.

"Vani!" Ventus said, between a mouthful of seaweed salad like it was the most natural thing. Vanitas winced a little, and Ventus tried again. "Vanitas, I guess in our, um… whatever that was, I forgot to ask. You can't fly with those wings, can you?"

* * *

"I thought it was… normal," Terra said. "I mean, look at us."

"The people who came through from the Oregon side aren't fairies, though," Gabriel said, tapping her chin. "It didn't even occur to me you'd be able to see past the veil. I've never dealt with your kind before," she added, addressing the real centaur picking through the onigiri looking for something specific.

Vanitas held out one of the still wrapped kelp onigiri he piled in front of himself. "Centaur right? You're a vegetarian too?"

The centaur snatched it, saying something unintelligible.

"Can you switch to Japanese, Foaly?" Gabriel asked. "They're not angels, they can't understand you."

"Oh, yes, quite," Foaly said, in perfectly clear Japanese. "You know what they say about assuming, though I suppose the pun wouldn't translate. I figured they could speak tongues like the rest of the people from the other side."

"'Fraid not," Tomo said, finally relaxing himself, nodding slyly to Ienzo.

"Well, you all finish. I'm going to make another two floors. Ugh. I hope there's not **another **group of you."

"Well, there's still Vexen and Naminé," Vanitas offered. "Though they stayed behind in wherever-they-were."

Gabriel nodded. "Two people more isn't a big deal," she said, stretching to Ienzo's quiet "Vexen!" and Tomo's equally startled "Naminé!".

"Show them upstairs when you're done," Gabriel said, making a shooing motion. "I should have everything else ready by then."

"Flood, you've been good. Do you want some, too?" Vanitas asked, turning back and forth to find his Unversed. It's head- long since returned to normal size but still half Aqua and Venus's height- popped back on the far side of the table- Terra wore an embarrassed expression.

"It wanted attention," Terra admitted.

"How much did you feed it?" Vanitas asked, annoyed. "When it pukes, you're cleaning it."

"That's right," Aqua huffed. "They're your responsibility."

"Since when?" Terra shot back. "And what do you mean '**they'**?"

Aqua pointed at Vanitas and Ventus, then at the parrot Unversed and Flood. "**Them**. And you're **oldest**." The word was said as though that wasn't the real reason.

He was the quickest to forgive, more like. But it was a start, all the same.

* * *

"A ramp, thank the Gods," Ienzo cried out. Gabriel must have changed the stairs on her way up.

"You won't get any practice like that," Foaly insisted, using the stairs as if he were showing a son how to walk correctly.

"I don't **need **practice! When I get home I'll be back to two of these, thank you," Ienzo insisted.

Foaly almost looked hurt as they reached the third floor. A goblin, a human boy and adult in sharp suits, an elf woman, and Luxord's Somebody were sitting at a smaller low table playing cards.

And now Vanitas could finally hear Isa's infernal snoring.

"I never lose! Ever!" The boy at the table huffed.

"Don't ever try playing Rudol," Ienzo said sharply. "Not if you want to leave with your shirt."

"That's what people normally say about Artemis," the elf woman insisted, then stood up to go through introductions.

* * *

"Sssso, I can hear Issssa ssssnoring a mile off, but who elsssse is here?" Demyx asked, sweeping a hand to the row of shoji screens, separating off private places for sleep.

"My guess is that Sora, Riku, and Kairi are catching up," Vanitas offered with a wave.

Holly nodded and pointed towards the far wall. "Goofy, Roxas and Xion went to talk with them. They're all together in the largest room there. Roxas and Xion wanted to see someone else but he's completely passed out."

"Axel is here," Tomo added. "Or his Somebody is, at least."

"**Lea**, and that's probably who they wanted to see," Ienzo offered. "Mickey was in their group, too, no?"

"Yes, though he's a **human**," Vanitas said, stifling a laugh. "I remember seeing him briefly… over there… and um that's quite a change."

Ienzo looked down at his hooves, begging to differ.

"Naminé and Vexen are still in Oregon. Apparently they have to clean up their mess," Vanitas continued. "They'll come when they're done, or wait there. That's one of the exits out, right?"

"As well as Haven, yes," Artemis offered. "A flight to Oregon might be quicker, and one wouldn't have to worry about going down underground."

"There's a portal straight there on the roof."

"Oh," Artemis said simply, a rare case of being at a loss for words. "Why haven't you used it?"

"They're **dead**, Artemis," Holly said sharply. "They can't leave their assigned district. That's how it works for mortals in limbo. Nice wings, by the way. Very Art Nouveau."

Artemis squinted, as if that would help him see the unseeable.

"There's goggles around here somewhere," Tomo said, grabbing a pair left behind near one of the screens. "Here."

Artemis put them on, slightly more satisfied. "Five yen coins? Goen?" he asked. "I tried this in my youth to glimpse a fairy and it failed to work." Artemis still being the youngest one present, Tomo (philosophical debates on whether his memories as Riku aged him or made him roughly three) notwithstanding.

"We had to charge them first," Tomo commented. "You can see them, yes? Our wings?"

"They're… well, no offense to the sprites, but they're absolutely breathtaking. How can one possibly fly with them, though? They hardly seem aerodynamic."

Tomo shrugged. "More magic than anything, really," was the best he could offer. "Oh! There's five others who came with the first group, Lea dragged four lesser Nobodies with him here, and Isa's group found a Keyblade master in their travels."

"What's our count up to, now?" Ienzo said with a small laugh.

"**Well**," Tomo and Vanitas said, looking slyly at each other.

"Her name's Mary, if that rings a bell at all. Doubt it, she has Keyblade armor. She's from **my **time at the very least," Vanitas said sharply.

"Did sssshe sssshow you her Keyblade?" Demyx asked, suddenly worried.

"Yeah, it looks like your bass," Vanitas said, off handedly. "Mostly dark blue."

Demyx gulped, and froze. "**Ssssshit**." After a beat, he added, "and it'ssss a sssitar."

"Whatever. What's got you so worked up, small, dark, and scaly?"

"N-nothing," Demyx lied.

"That's a whole lot of nothing, then," Butler said, noticing Rudol begin to sweat under his collar.

"If it's **her**," Rudol hissed to Demyx.

"Might not be, but the lasssst thing I need issss to… look like **thissss**."

"Who is she?" Tomo asked. "I could see about waking her."

"**No**!" Rudol and Demyx cried in unison as if waking Mary was akin to waking a dragon. The comparison wasn't too far off, either.

A shoji screen cracked open. "I hope someone has a very good reason for screaming while people are resting," a stern voice said from within the makeshift quarters.

Demyx, if he had a heart, would have had it skip a beat.

Maybe three.

Rudol didn't even turn to face the screen. "Go to her," he hissed.

"M-Mary?" Demyx choked out, extremely grateful her name had no S sounds.

Mary pushed the screen aside enough to stick her head out. Her hair was unkept, makeup gone, and she had the look of someone who lived through Hell and back ten times over. A true Keyblade warrior.

"That's Master Mary to you, imp," she snipped.

Demyx felt hot tears pool in the corner of his eyes, as he held his arms out, pulling Arpeggio to him from the liminal space where weapons sat in waiting.

"I heard you kept my favorite pick," he said, knowing her keychain, slowly choosing words, while holding the massive instrument in front of him, before saying a name he hadn't used in centuries. "It'sssss **Myde**, Mary. I've come the long way 'round."

Mary fell to her knees in shock. "Myde?" she asked quietly, summoning Forever-in-Tune. Myde turned Arpeggio on its side and Mary brought her keyblade to it, flipping the pick to its backside. She slid it down the side of the sitar's body until a tiny drawing on it continued onto the instrument.

She looked down.

He looked up.

They dismissed their instruments-cum-weapons.

"It's been nine hundred years," Mary choked. "I'm… I'm sorry I stopped looking."

"I am too," Demyx said, before a horrible feeling washed over him. One he'd felt once before, when Sora beat the tar out of him.

Mary suddenly looked just as sour.

"Mary! Demyx!" Ienzo cried. He saw it too, and knew exactly what was going on.

"Oh dear, I think my heart's grown back," Mary said, cradling Demyx as they both passed out on the tatami.

* * *

_**...how else you think she, Luxord, Larxene, Marluxia, and Demyx lasted 900 years?**_

_**Which brings up tons of questions for Ven/Vanitas, too...**_


	34. sewers

"Hot towels, surgical gloves, elevate their legs, and someone get me a penlight. I need to make sure they didn't receive a concussion," Ienzo ordered, immediately in crisis mode. "Foaly, show me how to kneel. **Now**."

"Tuck your legs in, like this," Foaly replied, caught off guard. "I am glad I went with you, can't do a thing without me," he added under his breath.

Ienzo bent over Mary and gently forced open an eye as soon as Uriel hurried over with the gloves, light, and towels. "I don't think she's got a concussion, but she's in stage two of recompletion. I didn't even know one could do this without having their Nobody form, erm, **discorporeared**, for lack of a better term."

"There's stages now, 'Enzo?" Lea asked, groggily, hair even a bigger mess than normal as he poked his head out and choked out a "The fuck? More unicorns?"

"**Centaur**, Lea," Ienzo sighed. "Everyone who came through the Destiny Islands portal came out the other side fairies."

"Riiiiight," Lea said, like it was normal. To their credit, getting to the Gravity Falls portal required passing through Monstropolis, so fair was fair.

"And yes, **stages**. Don't think I've been slacking in my research. I'd been working under the theory that kil- well, **taking care of**\- a Nobody body might not be the only way to regrow a heart with force. We've learned a Nobody can grow their own; Roxas a prime example. But that's a new heart, and it takes time. I thought it might be possible to force the original heart back by some sort of non-lethal shock to the system as it were," he said, concentrating on the pair of passed-out people before him, sighing as he worked.

"Where they lie," he added sternly to Rudol as the older man tried to move Mary into a room. "You never want to move someone with a potential concussion if its safe to leave them where they are."

"You're the doctor," Rudol admitted, backing away.

"Ha! Hardly," Ienzo whinnied out- now he knew how Roxas felt in Los Angeles- though he couldn't say he wasn't pleased with the remark.

Ienzo, satisfied with the resting pair, crossed his arms and turned to Rudol.

"You knew this woman, too, didn't you?"

Rudol merely stayed silent, bearing a poker face as Lea slowly pulled himself out of his quarters, tying back his hair in an attempt to tame it. The snoring had long since stopped, and Isa too, scooted out in what was definitely something of Riku's.

"Rudol, she mentioned nine-hundred years. If she's not a human, like, say, me in my current state, I may have to rethink treatment. No human lives that long."

"Nobodies can, or more specifically, Nobodies must, as there isn't any other explanation that makes a lick of sense," Rudol finally said, after a long silence. "She is human- now, I suppose, as well as before her heart was taken. My own, Myde's, Elrena's, and Lauriam's as well. The five of us were all Keyblade wielders in times of old."

"**How **old."

"Pre your world shattering into countless others old, yeah?" Gabriel asked, sliding down the ramp she'd made between the third and new fourth floor. "I… caught up on some of your history," she added, when Rudol gave her an odd look.

"How?" Ienzo asked again. "I was turned as a prepubescent child. I went through puberty as a Nobody- a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone, mind," he added, flinching just before saying **hell**as if a klaxon would sound from nowhere.

Rudol just shrugged. "I was a mage, not a medic, I only can tell you what I know firsthand. If anyone knows how this might actually function, it would be your father."

Ienzo looked confused a moment. "Even?" he finally asked, muttering, "suppose that's fair."

"So, a Keyblade wielder, huh?" Lea asked, changing the subject for Ienzo. "Means Myde is one too, right? Do we start calling him Myde?"

"Suppose that's up to him," Rudol said with a shrug. "However, losing my heart made me lose my Keyblade as well. I've only just regained mine." He flicked his wrist nonchalantly, showing it off before dismissing it just as fast.

"Fitting," Isa remarked. "Yet Mary had access to hers, though now her snippy attitude makes far more sense. My temper was much shorter without a heart."

"Because you didn't **have**a temper," Lea rebutted, rolling his eyes. "Lashing out without remorse is way worse," he added, before wincing out a, "oof, sorry, probably a sore spot."

Isa wiggled his hand in a noncommittal gesture. "Juuuuust a bit," he replied dryly with a small smile.

"Sounds like I owe you ice cream. There a place for sea salt around here?" Lea asked the room.

"Not unless you want to go to Chiba," Gabriel said with a shrug, stepping around the two resting former-Nobodies to go wake the rest of the people smart enough to cast Silence on their rooms.

* * *

"Lea!" cried Roxas and Xion, tackling him as he scooped them up and flung them around.

"Look at my pair of monkeys!" he beamed back, while Mickey, mildly embarrassed, introduced himself to Artemis and his group, thanking them for the trouble.

Isa, now fully awake, sat by Ienzo. "Just so you know, Vexen is doing just fine. He and Naminé are on the other side, taking care of some cleanup there."

"So I heard. But cleanup?"

"It… is a long story," Ienzo said, slightly embarrassed.

"Long, nothing," Holly cut in. "My comms have been going nuts about some localized hellscape."

"Remember that chat about the demon we had after everyone else hung up?" Lea asked, swinging his 'children' around now that they were small enough to cart one in an arm each.

"No."

"Yep, thing was summoning Heartless like crazy. It was so much black magic Isa and I could even call our Lesser Nobodies again- er, we used to be able to summon legions while we were Nobodies, oh, this is just word salad to you all, you'll never memorize half of this," Lea said, letting Xion sit on his shoulders while Roxas fluttered around at eye level.

Artemis simply pulled up the Kingdom Hearts wiki and showed Lea the screen. "It really isn't that confusing. Just a lot to keep track of."

"I… right, Dipper showed Kairi and I something like this, too. I think… the question that's been on my mind this whole time is how the heeeeello," Lea said, changing his word halfway out of his mouth, "ahem. How this even exists here- and, as games? It's so accurate its kinda spooky. Someone knows way, way,**WAY**too much about us."

"Well, Riku and I did save Joshua, Neku, Beat, and Rhyme during our Mark of Mastery exam," Sora offered, Flood nesting in his hair. "But… we didn't exactly give him our life story."

"And you probably didn't know anything about ours, given you'd've been like what, four? Five?" Ventus asked, peering over Artemis to click through the website to the section on himself. "Wait. **What**?!"

"What, what?" Aqua asked, worried.

"It says here I'm from Daybreak Town?"

Vanitas sighed and shook his head. "So you **didn't **keep those memories."

* * *

"Okay, kiddos, storytime," Vanitas offered, with more than twenty sets of eyes on him. Flood was fluctuating in size- nothing severe, but certainly noticeable.

"You don't have to do this," Sora said, trying to keep the beast calm with Goofy. Flood very much liked Goofy's demon claws, winding around him to get chin scratches.

"I'll make it quick, since we have to head out to that meeting soon anyway," Vanitas offered. "And I'm not gonna repeat myself five million times." He sighed, and plopped down in front of everyone, wings curled in for his own sanity like a lacy blanket.

"So yeah. Ventus and I were one person. I can't say I remember everything, and that's a story in and of itself, but here. We were one person. Ventus Halbherzig."

Rudol, ever so slightly, raised an eyebrow.

"Somebody's familiar with the Halbherzig family, thank you. Minor nobility. Venty-Wenty here was a Viscount."

Ventus did the very mature thing in response to the nickname and raspberri'ed in Vanitas's direction.

"We were a Keyblade wielder. I'm almost positive we were Ursus Union, but don't quote me on it, it's been hundreds of years and I've long lost the damn journal we kept. I'd bet munny the old coot took it, so maybe when you're back on the other side you can try and backtrack where he'd put such a thing."

Tomo bristled at the 'you' instead of 'we', but said nothing.

Ventus growled low. "**Anyway**. I think at some point we lost our heart. Rudol's right, we're just human, or at least Ventus himself is. I'm a castoff, not sure if I play by the same rules. Or maybe time travel, I dunno, its fuzzy. I could tell you the exact day I sat and saw Myde play at the giant fountain in the center of Daybreak Town, yet there's entire centuries after the Keyblade war where no matter how hard I think of 'em, there's nothing. And it feels like there should be."

"Someone call me?" a voice asked groggily.

Eyes turned away from Vanitas and toward the wiggling spot on the floor. "Ugh. Everything hurts."

"Demyx, please don't move," Ienzo warned him. "Your heart returned to you."

"Ugh, yeah, I can feel that," Myde replied, clutching himself. "And Myde is fine. Better than fine, even."

Ienzo nodded. "Very well."

"Question."

"Possible answer, depending."

"I'm… I'm lying next to Mary Poppins, yes?"

"If that's her full name, yes," Ienzo said, stifling a chuckle.

"Oh good," Myde replied, squeezing her hand under their blanket. "Just checking I wasn't dreaming."

"You're not, my ball of Lux," a second voice said carefully from the same spot on the floor. "Ohhh, this hurts worse than that time a rabbit in a spotted bow-tie ran me over in a black car."

"Tell me who that rabbit was and I will go and make them pay," Myde replied, darkly.

"Dear, that was at least five centuries ago," she replied wistfully. "Also I was told you were sporting a **mullet**."

"When I'm back to human you can see it," Myde replied with a bit of an audible grin.

"Oh, can you two **get a room**," Lea snapped good-naturedly. "There's children present. Also does that mean your full name is Myde Poppins?!"

"Shut up, matchstick," Myde replied without bite, closing his eyes but moving just a little closer to Mary.

"May I finish?" Vanitas asked, eyebrow raised. "Or is this the Happily Ever After hour?"

"You just asked permission," Aqua said, carefully, dumbstruck. "Vanitas just said 'may I'. Are we on the right world?"

"It's a world without Xehanort," Vanitas responded pointedly.

It shut up the room immediately, as Aqua looked down and away.

"Right, yeah," she muttered, before slowly looking up to face him square. It was eerie, looking at a red-eyed Sora. And **Sora **was the right word for it, not just in physical structure, but a few mannerisms, too. The way he'd look diagonally away from people and scratch at the back of his neck, now that it wasn't confined in a thick neoprene suit.

Red-eyed.

Aqua blinked a few times. Terra… she originally thought he'd been defending the creatu- the **kid**\- out of some sense of guilt. Yet, here, his eyes were red. They'd been gold before.

Terra wasn't just defending him. They **had**both been possessed to a degree.

Aqua felt a knot tighten in her stomach. "Vanitas can I ask you one more side-tracked question?"

He glared, but grunted a yes.

"Your eyes… used to be yellow, didn't they?"

"And?" he asked.

"That's all," Aqua said simply. "Continue."

"Well, that's more or less it, really. Ventus and I are old. Our old personality was closer to his, though I think I kept the sarcasm- and the memories, though I've got gaps for sure. Maybe we were a Nobody for a while, before you-know-who got us. Maybe not. Like Rudol said, I'm not a medic." Vanitas scratched the back of his neck again, looking to Riku without realizing.

Vanitas inhaled sharply, and untangled his wings a little. "Questions?"

People quietly shook heads.

"Not sure there's anything to ask, really," Isa said, shrugging. "You've been as helpful as you can be."

"Now," Gabriel said starkly. "We have a bit of… I won't say problem, but…"

"There's twice as many of us as there are goggles, aren't there?" Mickey asked, looking around the room.

"Not twice as many," Uriel replied. "The fairies can see past the veil. In other words, there's fifteen of you who need eyepieces, but we only have ten sets. Mortals cannot enter an angel's sanctuary. It's not technically on this plane of existence."

"So what, five of us can't go?" Lea asked.

"We'll be able to make more tonight. But yes, for now, four will have to stay behind."

"I think the answer is obvious," Naveen said shrugging, gesturing to himself and the other Assassins. "We're four. We're just here to assist."

"Are you okay with this?" Gabriel asked, unsure.

"If I'm bein' honest, sugar," Tiana said, smiling gently, "having a rest for once would be heavenly. I hear you have a bath?"

"Yes, we do, but that doesn't completely fix the problem. One more needs to stay behind. Mary?"

"I will if I must," Mary said, sitting upright. "Though I think I could walk and listen if it is an option." Myde slowly pulled himself up to squeeze her hand gently.

"Then I will stay," Butler insisted. "Holly, I trust you will reign in Artemis on my behalf?"

Holly looked shocked. "Even after… the issue with Hybras?"

"Holly, I just flew you all for fifteen hours from Dublin while you slept. Either Artemis goes with you, or he stays here with me while I rest."

"I… believe I will head out with the group, if you're amenable, old friend."

"Very much so," Butler replied, "but should you return in any worse condition, well, I hope I don't need to finish that sentence. Just do not be coming back with black wings."

Artemis gulped. "I will make sure of it, Butler."

* * *

Uriel lazily tread air over Hachiko, scanning the area below. The group from Oregon waited by the Outback Coffee facing the station, with an unusually large number of empty seats around them. She frowned. She knew the fairies were with them, somehow, but there wasn't any sort of magic blocking her ability to perceive them. So however they were hiding, well, it bothered her.

It was likely the same reason the fairies and angels stopped coming into contact with one another. Something less magic, more technology.

She watched as Lea patted at the air to his side, where an empty chair sat.

They had to be there. There wasn't any possible other option.

"Fairy tech," she muttered. "Maybe Gabriel can talk nerd with them.

* * *

Gabriel was, indeed, 'talking nerd' with them.

She hovered just over Riku's chair with a drink that was more cream than coffee, looking down at the spot where Foaly's voice emanated from, at least, without a visible Foaly.

"So, holographic film? Simultaneous 3D projections?" she asked the air that was definitely containing a centaur somewhere below her.

"Tron's been working on something similar for us as a defense mechanism. Hard light embedded holographic projection systems,"Ienzo's voice said. "I'm happy to trade schematics if you are."

"Ienzo, I might not be Vex, and I hardly count as voice of reason, but something something, world order?" Lea asked, tipping himself back in his chair until he was balancing on its back legs alone.

"I was also explicitly told as far as technology goes, trade sideways or up," Ienzo countered. "So long as I'm not bringing Gummiphones to Arendelle, it's fine. There's no way to make progress otherwise."

Sora's face turned three shades of pink.

"Soooora?!" Goofy said, accusingly.

"What, I just showed Queen Elsa how to take a photo! There were portraits all over her castle."

"**Painted**," Goofy quipped. "Trompe l'oeil isn't a photograph."

"Well those trump-loy thingies looked like photos to me!"

Gabriel bounced gently in the hot breeze wafting off the pavement, watching the statue. If Rhyme and Joshua ran their city the way that she and her Composer ran theirs, then Gabriel was about to have front row seats to one hell of a show.

* * *

A few Reapers were first, the curious new ones that had been initiated after Joshua's reclamation of Shibuya after the dirty nonsense back in February. They'd never been inside the Conductor and Composer's sanctuary, hidden in liminal space past the area under the sewers. The Shibuya River- a real place indeed before modernization paved it all under tons of concrete.

Now, unless you knew exactly how to look, it was reduced to little more than a trail of wastewater underneath the JR Yamanote train line.

For the higher ranking Reapers, the ones with a little more access to the labyrinth that wasn't, it was a place to practice expanding their Imaginations in peace, the source of their power. There were ample open spaces with just the right amount of wattage to plug in an electric guitar, a rack of more traditional instruments, that never seemed affected by the slight humidity of the place, and always a free wall or three to whip up a new mural, or just tag something rude, until it was mysteriously messed with- usually Joshua's personal doing. He was very open about personal expression, but equally reminding the older Reapers that some were as young as six and seven.

Draw all the butts you want, he'd said. Just know that the most risqué things might just… vanish. Or at least the mural would move to a part of the underground that required a gold keypin.

The Dead God's Pad- the Conductor's private space at the center of the maze of concrete- was hardly ever open to outsiders. Other than the time Joshua rounded up the Reapers to face the proverbial music after February, the only time it had been open to the public was Tanabata- and most Reapers opted instead to go to other parts of the city or haunt their families. Occasionally, an individual or small group would be called into the inner sanctuary, and the reason was either extremely good- a chance to thank a Reaper privately with a bottle of some ancient vintage or fine food or both- or extremely bad. And the extremely bad didn't go through the Pad directly, no.

They went right to Joshua's personal domain in the rear of the complex. And some did not come back out.

"Neku," Gabriel said sternly. "Do me a favor and walk our off-world friends downstairs, please."

He didn't reply; Gabriel smacked her head realizing that his goggles were around his neck and not over his face. Thankfully, Rhyme tapped him, whispering in his ear. He pulled up the goggles, and motioned for everyone to follow.

"See you in a bit, sis?" Beat asked Rhyme.

"Mhmm!" she said. "I'm just going to help the Players down. We can't all go at once, unless someone wants to swim in the runoff."

"Eeeeyck, no," Beat said, making an overly exaggerated face.

"Oh, Neku!" Rhyme added, as some Most Definitely Empty Chairs put themselves away. "Do me a favor? Can you tag a wall, since you have some time? There's plenty of spray cans down there."

"Huh? I could," Neku replied, scratching at his neck. "Any reason?"

"Yeah, Hanekoma's finally gotten permission to come to Shibuya next week to gather his stuff. Figured he'd be happy to see one of your tags down there."

Neku lit up. "He's finally getting out of Angel Jail or whatever it is? What's the sentence?"

"**Demotion**," Rhyme said, with a sad sigh. "They've sent him to the boonies. We're all glad it's not worse."

"How bad?"

"**Hachioji**."

Neku laugh-snorted. "You all did that on purpose."

"Uh-huh," Rhyme said. "You have no idea how much he begged to not be stationed there. So, naturally, that's where they put him. He's been in Hachioji the past two weeks, but they plucked his wings, so he's been sulking and trying to grow new feathers. Poor guy looks like a cooked chicken."

"A cooked chicken in sunglasses." Neku rubbed at his eyes, as if he were wiping off a tear. "I'll be sure to find his new place when I come back home after school."

"Sure he'd like it."

* * *

"Okay, I think this is past the Point of No Return," Neku said, looking to Beat and Komaeda, both of whom were, or had been, Reapers.

"I've only been down here twice or three times in a decade," Komaeda replied, touching the walls. "It's supposed to be a space for the Lieutenants and such to unwind."

"Heyyyy spiky!" A voice hollered. "Don't tell me you got offed again!"

"Kariya!" Neku called out, waving.

"Oh, sheesh, that's new, you're actually saying hi." The Reaper, a twig of a thing in a sleeveless hoodie and yellow shaded glasses, leaned against a mural with what looked like an unlit cigarette in his mouth, before pulling it out. It was just a bright blue lollipop.

"Switching flavors, too?" Neku asked, grinning.

"Sick of cherry," Kariya said, flicking the pop around before sticking it back in his mouth. "Seriously though, you dead or what?"

"Nope," Neku said shrugging, pointing at the goggles. "Just helping. We far enough in that the living can't enter?"

"Oh, yeah, plenty," Kariya said, a little surprised. "There's a mural where the space shifts. Guess nobody's there at the moment."

There was a sound of rustling leaves, and the fairies took off some sort of holographic fabric.

"I almost tripped over it, thrice," Ienzo sighed out, passing his back to Foaly.

"Fairies!" Kariya cried, his pop falling out of his mouth, rolling down into the sluice drain. "Haven't seen one in decades."

"You're that old?" Neku asked.

Kariya shrugged. "Too lazy to be an angel, c'mon, something tells me that whatever Josh wants 's got something to do with your lot, so I'm sticking with you. Oy, Uzuki, stop sulking and join us!"

A woman stepped out from around a side corner; when Vanitas peeked in it was a solid concrete room with music notations taped up everywhere Myde and Mary behind him were practically salivating.

"Excuse me, I was working," a woman's voice huffed, carrying a violin, a case floating telekinetically behind her.

"It's 4:30, we'll get some brownie points if we help Josh set up. And by we, I mean **you**, Boss."

"That's right, **your lieutenant**," Uzuki huffed, with a smile, letting go of the violin and allowing it to return to its case and float off to its space on a rack.

"Where's the spray for tagging?" Neku asked.

"Dude, you're not even dead," Kariya replied, ruffling Neku's hair. "Come back in a few decades or something."

"Conductor's orders," Shiki insisted, grinning a little.

"Seriously?" Uzuki asked, in disbelief.

"Seriously," Komaeda echoed.

"Oh, well, **you **I believe," Uzuki huffed. "You're one of Eri's, right?"

"Yes, Underpass Team Alpha, Miss Yashiro."

"And a proper address too, huh," Uzuki said, elbowing Kariya in the ribs. "Who would've thunk it."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll buy you some ramen," Kariya whined out, rubbing at his side. "Visual art area's a sharp left. You need long?"

"Ten minutes?" Neku asked. "I'll just do one color."

"I can wait ten," Kariya said. "And I wanna see you work."

* * *

Neku looked nervous behind him, as the crowd waited. He flicked off the tops of two orange spray cans and shook them both, inhaling. "No paint smell."

"No sewer smell either, thank God," Uzuki commented. "No way I could practice if it stank."

"I like the smell." Neku sighed out, clearly a bit nervous. "Of spray paint, I mean. It's…"

"Quit stallin' and show off," Uzuki whined. "If the Conductor wanted you to tag, he has to have a reason."

"She," Neku replied, as he quickly started to work. In under a minute, the direction of his work was pretty clear, and he capped the orange and switched to blue.

"Thought you said one color?" Kariya asked, impressed with the stylized Son Goku imagery.

"Has it been ten minutes?" Neku shot back, and quickly finished his tag.

* * *

"Can't believe that's ten minutes. You kept some of your magic when you revived, had to," Kariya insisted, when it was done. It was a pretty impressive monkey-teenager, in mid jump, with blue over-ear headphones and a can of blue spray paint in his left hand. It was Neku's, through and through.

Neku just shrugged. "Probably. Parents let me switch to an art school starting second semester. Think **someone else **managed to convince them, though," he said with a small grin.

"Oh, trust me, if Josh wants you staying in Shibuya, you're his," Kariya said, matching his grin. "Favor of the Angels comes with a few perks."

* * *

"You… you weren't Erased?"

"Oh god, I thought you'd been!"

The two young woman screamed, and ran towards each other, sobbing and holding each other like nothing else mattered.

Gabriel wished she had some popcorn.

So did Uriel, for that matter.

The Players, none of whom would possibly know the way to the Dead God's Pad- or even, what it was- were slowly converging on Hachiko.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, and all other Players!" Gabriel shouted out, to a group of forty. With the Game half over, they'd lost most of who they'd probably lose by now.

Which likely came as a massive shock to the players, thanks to a tiiiiny bit of sleight-of-hand.

After the first day, nothing said all the Players would be playing… simultaneously.

On Tuesday, they'd been split into two groups, one of about 15 pairs, and the other the remainder, with their start and end times staggered. On Wednesday, they were three groups, and by Friday, six. By Sunday, their time to complete their objective would be about three hours, but with their start times staggered and the challenge in such a way that it was much like Tokyo Disneyland- a group finishing a challenge ushered on, and as soon as they'd be out of sight, a new pair would face the same thing.

By the end of the week, every pair would be fighting for their life, either completely alone or with only one other set, under the assumption everyone else had long since lost.

That wasn't to say some players weren't Erased- wild Noise still had bite, after all- but the Reapers themselves no longer shot to kill.

But with the all-hands meeting, Joshua had made it clear that Players weren't put back in stasis until the next day. At least they were all learning the little trick now, and not inside the sewers where the shrieking of surprised reunions would be bouncing infernally against the concrete.

"Come on, I know everyone's shocked and appalled," Gabriel said, flying in low, lazy circles around the group, "but we have a meeting to make. Come, now, stay together, we're going to the sewers."


	35. the chapter where joshua talks too much

"Can I get you guys anything?"

Joshua's head was ducked behind the bar of the wide, brightly lit space, at least four cocktail shakers were floating around him as the contents of one dropped into a martini glass with a big sphere of ice. His head peeked out, and the glass slid effortlessly down the bar to an older woman, with tiny triangular Reaper wings. Quickly, he dispatched the other three he was working on and made up a Shirley Temple for a little Reaper girl who couldn't even see over the countertop. Kariya gave him a nod before vaulting over the bar to mix himself something from one of the tall smoked bottles lining the back.

"I could use something stiff," Rudol admitted.

"How stiff?" Joshua asked, as Lea and Isa glared disapprovingly. "I'll… keep it mild. Don't want to upset your parents," he added with a smug grin.

"It's been a profoundly long day," Rudol said with a sigh, trying to justify himself.

"Aw, c'mon it's not like I'm offering fairy food," Joshua joked to Holly.

"That's not how it works and you know it," Holly reminded. "And we can't take alcohol from humans."

Joshua spread his wings at that. "Well you're in luck, never was, never will be. And I have juice and sodas too if you'd rather not be sloshed."

Holly glared. "The strongest you've got, angel."

Kariya spun the bottle he was using for himself, pouring her a shot too. "Ambrosia from Rome, 10CE. To your taste, elf?"

* * *

Slowly, the entire city of Reapers and Players trickled into the space. Vanitas busied himself with hiding as far in a corner as was possible, away from everyone. Not that it was easy- the area was set up like a giant club or bar, except, instead of being dark and intimate, it was bright, white, and open. The bar itself was backlit in blue, with an obsidian countertop, the furniture a mix of sofas and lounges that looked far too stylish and angular to be functional, yet immensely comfortable to sit in, the backs slouching just **so **to provide a resting place for those with wings. The entire floor was an aquarium, the glass clacking with every heel or chair moved to make an awkward circle of sofas and folding chairs facing the bar itself.

A giant shark swam lazily underfoot.

Vanitas practically heard a woman squeal as she shuffled over in his direction in an extraordinarily poofy black dress and platform shoes that rocked back and forth as she walked. Her hair rolled in unnatural curls. A wig, likely. Dyed, and heavily teased, at the very least.

"Wherever did Master get those red eye contacts? They are delightful!" she crowed at him.

He bristled a little at **Master**. "Don't call me that."

"Do you prefer Mistress?" she asked, worried. "Princess K apologizes for the sleight."

Where had he heard… **Monday**. At the vegetarian place. **She **was the gothic shopkeeper that inspired fear in the Reapers. The fashion experiment lady.

"What… no. Not Mistress at all, just… not Master. **Please**."

"Oh dear. May Princess K use Sir?"

"Sir… is fine. I **guess**." She wasn't anywhere near as bad as the Reapers had made her out to be. "And they're not contacts. I have red eyes."

Flood squeaked at that and showed his own off to her.

"Oh… oh my, and a tame Noise too?" She was practically melting. "How **delightfully **morbid."

"Someone likes the whole 'being dead' thing a bit much, huh?"

"Oh, yes! Very much so. Princess K of the Bunny Realm! I have come to Earth to refine my ways," she said, with a quiet curtsy. Vanitas wasn't sure if it were an act or the genuine truth, given his own background.

Flood nosed forward a bit.

"Princess K wonders if she might say hello to the delightful friend of yours?"

"What? Yeah, sure," Vanitas said, letting his arms slacken. Flood jumped, bouncing on her layers of petticoats before settling.

"The little sir… Princess K could design a purse that looks like him," she said with a small smile, reaching out to stroke him. "Does little sir have a name?" The woman was strange, but not much unlike how Vanitas was strange.

"Flood."

"How Biblical," she said wistfully. "Princess K is surprised Noise can survive in the wards in here. Master Joshua is so very strict with them. Are you new, good sir? Princess K has never seen you before."

"Three days old," Vanitas said, shrugging.

"Come by Princess K's shop. Lapin Angelique may have something to help the good sir fight better. Sir's current jacket only provides a small strength boost, no?" She nodded at his windbreaker with interest.

"Someone mentioned the clothes are all magicked," Vanitas said with a shrug. "I just grabbed what fit."

"Do not worry, tailoring is no extra charge," she said with a small smile. "Sir would look good in a suit with waistcoat, Princess K thinks."

"I'll… uh… keep it in mind, thanks," Vanitas replied, as Princess K lifted the Unversed and snuggled it gently. Vanitas noticed others were taking any seat but near them. It was almost like she was a Reaper repellant.

"People… are avoiding you," he muttered under his breath.

"Most of Princess K's customers are the living. It's a bit sad, Princess K admits. We do so love seeing our dresses and jackets on those with wings."

"I… wouldn't mind stopping by," Vanitas admitted. "I don't have a lot of clothes anyway."

Princess K lit up like a rocket. "Oh do! A bow tie for the little sir on the house, too," she added, and immediately pulled out a sketchbook from God-knows-where to busy herself with drawing, Flood nosing in, and squealing as she drew a picture of it wearing a deep purple bow.

* * *

Neku couldn't remember the last time he'd been smothered this much. It seemed like every Reaper in the city wanted to come up and give him a hug. Some he didn't recognize till they spoke- now in clothes of their choosing as they were no longer the lowest ranking grunts in the face-covering hoodie uniform.

"The Reaper Review still remembers you," one skinny Reaper decked out in Tigre Punks duds and a nose ring cried out at him before pulling him in for a good natured noogie.

The living- the Japanese living, at least- had never been this physically affectionate. Neku didn't mind this though, it was… nice. He gave the formerly irritating barrier Reaper a solid smack on the back in return before reciprocating with a proper hug.

"How's real life treating you?" the Reaper asked him.

"I switch to art school Friday. Did a semester of regular prep, but **someone **managed to wear my parents down. It's in Shibuya too, so I'll be sure to leave some tags for you all to deface," Neku said, grinning a bit toothily.

"Oh, sick. I'll keep an eye out."

"You **better**," Beat replied, getting his own share of fist bumps. "Neku promised to design my next skate deck. When it's worth millions remember- Sakuraba did it first."

The doors swung open, and a group of non-winged people entered, escorted by Gabriel, Uriel, and Rhyme, who now had her own wings on display. Beat gave her a pair of finger guns as she strode past the grunt Reapers, then the officers, lieutenants, and generals, the final group the only ones aware. They bowed and parted, and she slid to take a seat directly on the bar counter, magically dry of drink or ice, and pristine clean.

"Joshua?" she asked, and he began, by snapping his fingers.

You could hear a pin drop.

"Sorry, guys. I really don't like yelling. And this is important. For those who just joined us, hello, you get something really special. We normally don't let anyone see how the sausage is made, so to speak. Nice seeing all your friends in one piece, right? Anyway," he added, sweeping an arm around the room. "If you need the bathroom or anything, it's thataway, just go. I'll still be audible from there. If you need to stop and ask a question, raise your hand. I'll un-silence you. If you want a drink, just head up to the bar, one of the Reapers will service you. The whole room's silenced, so there won't be any annoying clinking glass."

He picked up a dry erase pad. "Just write what you want. Or type on your phone. Food's after our chat. Fair? **Fair**."

He pushed himself up to sit next to Rhyme on the countertop, gently circling a wing around her. "First off, some housekeeping. We're getting a new Producer soon. No word yet from Upstairs who, but verdict's been passed and announced that Hanekoma's actions in February led to his immediate removal. He's been demoted, wings plucked, and he's Conductor of Hachioji. Yep, down two notches, and stuck in the boonies. He's still an Angel but he's going to be flightless for a while yet 'till his molt, so he can't leave the city without permission or his wings growing back in. That's at least six months, maybe a year."

Several of the Reapers shuddered, while the Players and the rest of the Reapers looked on confused.

"For those of you new, a fine gentleman by the name of Hanekoma was our Producer. An Archangel, as in higher rank than me. Don't worry, you didn't miss much. If you ran afoul of a Producer, trust me, your issue was way beyond a regular Reaper pay grade. Most of the people who just winced knew him as a shopkeep up on Cat Street with the best breakfast in the city, not as a celestial being."

"To our lovely Players, I apologize, this is going to be a whole lot of political gibberish. But here's something that might be of interest to you, too. I'm formally announcing our newest officer. Some of you grunts might've been a bit surprised to see an old friend with wings."

Joshua turned, and gave Rhyme a one-armed hug. "This is Bito Raimu, she's been acting Conductor of Shibuya since we lost Kitanji in February. I'm going to take the opportunity of gathering everyone here to announce her official position. Un-silence-ing you bastards so you can give her a proper welcome, and…?"

Joshua waved his fingers and the space erupted in raucous noise that practically shook the glass floor, until Joshua silenced them again. "Toasts after. Anyway. Players, this is important to you, because if you want your lives back, you're fighting her Sunday. Good luuuuuuck," he added with a Cheshire grin.

"So. Housekeeping out of the way. I wouldn't have called a state of emergency for that. Certainly wouldn't have invited our lovely guests down here too, would I?" He gestured lazily to the mass of players, as Kariya flung him a glass down the bar between serving Players and Reapers alike on the far side, a small line forming for him and Eri and two other Reapers serving the crowd.

Joshua took a sip and made a bit of a face, sliding it back. "All yours, I'd like something without booze tonight, thanks."

Kariya downed it in a gulp and sent back chilled pineapple juice.

"Thanks. I'd rather be sober for this," Joshua sighed, staring sharply at the crowd. "We're going to war tomorrow."

The crowd would have gasped, if they could, instead only making the awkward pantomime of it. Neku laughed aloud, to the collective stares of everyone in the room.

"Oh shit, right, you can't hurt me, this counts as hurting me?" Neku said to the echoing halls. "Um. I'll shut up now. Or, um, if it works, Josh, you can shut me up, I give permission."

"We'll get to our spikey orange friend in a minute," Joshua said, facepalming, snapping his fingers again. "Try talking, dear?" he asked Neku, who opened his mouth, to no sound coming out.

Joshua raised his glass to that. "We've got a bunch of funny friends in the room here, which is why now's the best time for a good old fashioned invasion."

He smiled, and sipped. "So. Here's the deal. Many of you are vaguely aware that shits's going down in Shinjuku next door. The Conductor's a psychopath, the Composer can't control her, and we have **no**idea who their Producer is, but is most definitely enabling this shit, if not outright helping. For our most recently dead friends, every city is led by three- a Reaper and a pair of Angels. Conductor is my friend Rhyme here. The top ranked Reaper, runs and oversees the Game. Above them is the Composer, that's me here in Shibuya. They're actually in charge of the city; Conductors don't actually have the Imagination to change the city. I don't run games, but I can shift the very fabric of the land. That means, should you win, I'm the one bringing you back to life. Most of what I handle you don't see. Above that is another angel, higher rank. They're the Producer. They're arbiters. Basically angel police. If there's a dispute among the ranks, that's their job to settle the score. We lost ours a few months ago so I've been sorta filling both roles till head office sends me a replacement. It's possible for a game to run without a Producer or Composer, but not both. There's nobody with the power to bring winners back to life, then. And most Producers are even more secretive than their Conductors are. Gabriel here and I are exceptions, not the rule, also, Gabe and Uriel? Wave hi." The two other angels flapped their wings to float above the crowd, before settling.

"Gabriel and Uriel are Composers. Chiyoda for Gabe, and… Uriel's… **well**. Shinjuku's next door."

More stunned silence.

"So. Long story cut real short. Tomorrow we're storming Shinjuku to go kill, or, really, un-kill, Coco, the Conductor of Shinjuku. Return the city back to Uriel. And save a whole lotta afterlives. There will be no mission tomorrow. There may not be one Friday, either."

"So," Rhyme said, pulling her knees to her chest, unaffected by Joshua's silence. "We're asking for help."

* * *

Coco unzipped the body bag.

Yozora was practically comatose, covered in more scratches and bruising. She waved her hands over him and he choked awake, spitting out a tooth.

He screamed. She silenced him, and watched with a crooked smile as he yelled in inaudible agony for a few moments before she healed him back up.

"No use to me dead," she complained, kicking him in the ribs with her hot pink high top.

"Now, now, that any way to treat a gift?" a young man's voice said, oddly chipper. He waved his arms around frantically, like his limbs were made of elastic and he was barely containing them.

"You ever gonna give me a name other than **Master**, Producer?" Coco whined. "You're not my dad, and certainly not the boss of me."

"Oh, no, absolutely not! No bossing what-so-ever," the man replied, and one could hear the smile in his voice even if you couldn't see it under the hood. "And it's not Master, how many times do I have to tell you? Master **of Masters**, pleeeeeeeeease get it right? For me?"

Coco stuck her tongue out at him and materialized a bottle of water, which she stuck in the bound Yozora's mouth. "Until I know you're God, you're just a sugar daddy. Nothing more."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's see what else I can do, here…" he said, head turned to the Square Enix building, its double towers nowhere near as imposing at five in the bright summer afternoon as they were at night. One could hardly lurk from a rooftop in broad daylight, after all.

He flicked a pin between his fingers that he'd nicked off a woman's bag earlier.

A woman who'd walked from Meiji Shrine to Shinjuku's Kabukicho district to meet friends for dinner.

Meiji Shrine. In **Shibuya**. Well, technically, Harajuku, but that was still a district of the larger Shibuya area.

And it had a **Heartless **logo on it. The Master of Masters knew that symbol well; he'd seen it in days long gone and days to come, and even snuck the logo idea in some game company designer's head with an imprint some 20 years ago or so.

20 years ago, when he was in an elevator with some game and Disney employees and he'd whispered some honeyed words- **why don't you all work together? A show or somesuch, maybe one of those newfangled 3D action games?**

**It'll sell, you'll see**.

He flicked the pin again, letting it fall deign side up into his black glove, before he crushed it to dust.

"They're coming. The Shibuya Reapers."

"Oh, that was obvious," Coco said, sweet as sugar. "Those pins are all imprinted."

"That they are. '**Walk to Shinjuku**'! What a load of chocobo-dung. That's all there is? What are they trying to do? Get someone living run over by a car?"

"Oh, I wish, then I'd have more little souls to drag around on the pavement," Coco said wistfully. "Honestly, I don't know what they're trying to do. If Shibuya's tagging living people to tag everyone- living and Reaper alike…"

"Like in February?" The black-clad Producer asked.

"Mhmmmm. Heard all about it. Could see it too, from my side of the thing."

"You were just a barrier Reaper then."

"So booooooooriiiiing," Coco whined.

"I can only **imagine**. Being bored sucks soooooo much, doesn't it? Aren't you pleased as punch I got you promoted?"

"Oh and that accident in Ruppongi, that moved that idiot redhead as my Conductor?" Coco added with a satisfied giggle. "She can't do squat when its two on one."

"I'm **particularly **proud of that one," he replied, nodding reverently. "Soooo, kiddo, what now?"

"Well, if Reapers are coming, let's roll out the welcome mat. Let's say we… give 'em some brand restrictions?"

The man rubbed his hands fervently. "I am LOVING the way you think. Mus Rattus? That'll knock 'em down a peg or three. Stuff's got nothing but weak mass produced charms."

"Naw, I'm thinking something with just a hair more bite," she said grinning, holding the ends of her own puffy dress. "I do love a good **curse**."

"Oh. Hair. Haaaaare," the man laughed, doubling over at the joke way more than a normal person might. It took him a solid three minutes to regain composure. "Can't wait to see that pansy blonde in a ballgown."

* * *

Joshua sneezed, a small feat for an angel who wasn't trying to pretend to be mortal, and rubbed his nose on a cocktail napkin. "So. Yes. War," he added, sagely, finished showing off the photos Komaeda's twin brother had been sending his Shibuya counterpart on a roll-down projector for them, and the reason why dinner hadn't been served prior to the all-hands meeting. "That's what it's like ground zero for dead people there. Reapers leaking Noise, missing limbs, barely able to do more than hide and pray. Players? Bah, forget it. Nobody survives past Wednesday."

A few Players sat in shock, and an older-looking Reaper downed sake angrily enough to shatter the glass.

"Hand out, Taro," Joshua ordered, and with a tiny miracle, willed the cup back whole and a cut on the man's forearm gone without a trace. "So. Here's the deal. We're going to go kick her ass, using everyone's who's been pinned. Those things we were handing out today'll turn the living to mindless zombies. No- before you all chuck your highballs at me, hear me out," he added, ducking a thrown glass even though he froze it midair. "I'm **not **making the living fight. I'm making a wall. It's forbidden for the dead to harm the living. Pretty much the only thing that'll cause an actual act of God if the rule's broken. I'm using them to corner Coco and nothing more. She's not going to care about breaking any inanimate objects or buildings- so long as the people aren't in them- or Reapers or Players but you bet your cocktail feathers she'll be extremely careful around a flash mob of living people. Wouldn't want a reprimand from upstairs, and trust me, if making Taboo Noise gets an angel plucked and demoted, you can't imagine what killing the living without express permission gets as punishment for a Reaper two stations below that. And if she **does **get off easy, it'll be a lot quicker to pinpoint exactly who it is upstairs who's giving her a hand."

Kariya fluttered down the bar to tap Joshua on the shoulder.

"Speak," Joshua ordered, and the orange haired matchstick coughed once, finding his voice.

"What if God's the one letting her off easy?"

"Not possible."

"You clarified 'with express permission'."

"Yes, **as someone who received it once**, said express permission extended only to one person in very specific, watched, extenuating circumstances. If she had a license to kill, you don't think she'd've long since used it? Oh, **come off**," Joshua added, looking at the angry crowd. "Said one person I had permission to kill is standing right there, and very much alive now, thank you very much."

Neku pushed his way through the crowd, grinned, and punched Joshua so hard in the face that he fell backwards off the countertop and onto the rubberized flooring of the far side of the bar, short three teeth and a functioning nose. Neku bowed to the crowd of onlookers, flipped a middle finger while showing off his pre-taped right hand, and snatched up a whiteboard to ask for a Fanta in shaky off-hand writing.

Joshua pulled himself up, nose and mouth bloodied as he spat out a tooth and fixed his face. He squinted at the whiteboard as a black eye reversed itself. "Hang oth… I'm not going toth touch the taps coverth in ichorth," he said, teeth growing back as they should be. "You taped up this time, Neku, good."

"Wash your hands first, always," he added to the crowd, cleaning off, then poured Neku a soda like nothing happened, re-situating himself back on the counter with one of his own. "So. Coco would have killed the living already if she didn't fear repercussion. Hence the imprinting pins. Lesse, what else? Yes, an army," he said, fingers on his shirt to clear off the blood, removing it with a flick.

"What I'm asking is completely, utterly, totally optional. Choosing to abstain will not affect you or your performance in any way. In fact, Reapers? I will actually turn people right around if too many of you want to play hero. I can't have the entire city's Reapers gone in a day if things go pear-shaped in Shinjuku. Players, too. If Coco gets you, you're gone. No third chances. She's ruthless."

"No draft, ladies, gents, and friends of all shapes. But I **am**asking for soldiers. Reapers, if you say no, you're just going to hand out more imprinting pins in the morning then get the hell as far south in Shibuya as you can. Stay away from the Shinjuku border. Players? If you decline you'll just get a freebie day. Maybe two. Depends on how much damage gets done. In the off chance that we… that we don't make it out the other side in one piece, I've done a bit of magic. You'll all be revived Sunday good as new if… well. If things go less than stellar. A bit of preemptive magic so you're not screwed. Thank Rhyme for that, it wasn't my idea."

"Now, shopkeeps, whoever's fighting with us is going to need equipment. Best you've got. Best spells you've got. Pins too. Your backroom's your front room tonight and I'm paying. We clear?"

Next to Sora, Jun gave Joshua a lopsided salute, and Princess K gave ever-so-small a nod in her boss's direction. Other Reapers nodded in acknowledgement around the room.

"Now see here. If you want to help, come to me or Rhyme during dinner and ask for a token. Keep it hidden. Check it at 8 PM. If it's still white, too many people are helping and you've been turned away. If the color changes, you're staying for further debriefing. You are under no obligation to ask for a token, but… if you don't want to look like you're chickening out, tell me discreetly and I'll give you a token that won't change color. When we all look at the end of dinner, nobody will ever know you asked to stay behind. And certain people, even if you ask me, are getting one that won't change- no I'm not saying who. I **need **some of my Reapers and Players to stay behind. Don't take it personally. Good? If you have questions, text them to the number up on the projector. I'll answer what I can over dinner."

Joshua softened, his wings dropping a little as his shoulders released a massive weight.

"Thank you all for coming out today. I know it was required, but… oh, hang on."

Joshua pulled out his phone, ringing loudly with a song that caused a number of people to laugh in dead silence. "Dead kid speaking," he said, picking up the phone as he gave Neku a playful grin.

"They… what? W- you have to be shitting me. What's the requirement?"

Joshua's eyes went huge. "Well. That makes things annoying."

"**Really **annoying."

Joshua inhaled sharply, clicking the call off. "So, remember how the message said some people had orders to not be here? That call was why; I had some Reapers watch the border. Coco's put up a brand restriction. Princess K? You're about to be a very rich woman."

* * *

Joshua dropped the silence spell and commanded Gabriel, Uriel, and a small number of Reapers, the Generals who had saluted Rhyme when she entered, to begin setting up the buffet stations around the edges of the club. Vanitas looked to Princess K, still sitting primly with Flood in her lap.

"Brand restriction?"

"High ranking Reapers and Angels can put spells on parts of the city they work in. A brand restriction is fairly common. It means you may only use pins of a specific brand, or only wear certain clothing. Princess K's assumption is the latter. Princess K understands Joshua. Master likely wants Reapers who know how to hide their wings and sneak in with the crowd of the living to make it difficult for Coco to know who is alive or dead. By requiring Princess K's clothing, it will be much easier to pick out the Reapers, even if their wings are hidden."

"Your dress is… well. A bit different than what most people are wearing." Vanitas couldn't imagine himself in anything that uptight and formal. Especially considering the summer heat and the kind of clothing common on this world.

"It is the refined dress of gothic Lolita, not a costume," Princess K said sadly. "And yes, that's precisely the problem, my sir and little sir. That, and Princess K's magical enhancements are not to many Reaper tastes. Lapin's specialty is the double edged sword; lower ones defenses for empowered attack, for example. Some love the trade-off. Many fear it."

Joshua wound his way over, sliding tokens in several Reaper's hands along the way. Most wanted to fight with him- or, at least, not look like a wuss in front of their peers. Vanitas had no way to tell if Joshua was deliberately handing people duds.

"Princess?" Joshua addressed the woman with a bow.

"Master Joshua?" She replied, handing Vanitas back a napping Flood as she stood to return the gesture.

"Talk for a moment, my dear?"

And they were gone.

"Hey, bastard, token?" Vanitas called out, and Joshua flung one at him. Vanitas opened his hand.

It was already marked blue.

* * *

_**oh, i didn't forget about where MoM was standing at the end of the secret ending. nope.**_

_**:3**_


	36. retail therapy

_**tw: a boatload of internalized traumas, including gender dysphoria.**_

* * *

"So, we're the army?" Kariya asked, arms crossed, as heels clicked first on glass and then on concrete as the group of about fifty- Sora's group, some Reapers, and exactly two pairs of Players followed Joshua to the end of the hall to a backroom of the club.

"You're the army," Joshua replied, waving a finger as the concrete separated to a round, empty, white room. "Welcome to Heaven, or one of the entrances, anyway."

"Heaven is an empty concrete room under the sewers?" Lea asked incredulously. "It almost looks like…"

"The World that Never Was," Isa finished for him.

"Um… no, I was going to say Betwixt," Lea replied. "Cramped, and featureless."

Isa looked at him funny. "The giant vaulted ceiling reminds you of a corridor of darkness?"

Lea looked up. "It's barely taller than our heads."

Joshua paced to the middle of the room, holding out a hand like he were grabbing for a chair, and there one was. He flipped it so the chair back faced forward, straddling it so his wings could drop, relaxed, tips scraping the floor. "Technically it's exactly what you think it is. We're not anywhere physical, mind."

"No," Foaly said, stomping, as his hoof clipped through the floor a moment. "The entire place is nothing but magic." His eyes went wide and hungry, and suddenly there was a chaise lounger in his height before him. Kicking off the concrete, he settled.

"It's powered by our imaginations, isn't it?" Artemis asked. "We see what we expect to see."

"Yeeeeeep," Joshua said, lengthening the sound. He would have popped the P in **yep **for added effect, except what he'd actually said was "sou'su'neeeee", and thus had no P to pop. For those hearing him through magical translation- everyone from off planet save the four Reapers who came via death's door- a popped P was what they heard.

Artemis effortlessly made himself a throne, and sat smugly in it.

The higher ranked Reapers seemed to know what to do, fashioning themselves chairs and sofas to circle Joshua, who waited patiently, watching their skill.

"So, for those of you who aren't high ranking officers, this is exactly the sort of thing that gets you promoted around here," Joshua explained. "The whole point of all this Playing the Game charade is twofold," Joshua added, capital letters apparent in his tone. "Keep Noise in check on this world- 'lest ye rainne fyre and brimestonne' and all that Biblical and-or Sutra crud, as well as finding people for this," he added, shaking and stretching out his pearlescent wings to their maximum span.

"You're extending a job offer?" a Player- Li-chan- the powerful woman who had lost her memory as an entry fee, not for herself, but for the meek young man sitting next to her- asked. Sora reflexively rubbed his shoulder where she'd beamed him with a telekinetically thrown vending machine during his single day actually on the job.

"In so many words, pretty much. Keep the universe in balance, darkness at bay, et-cet-er-a," he replied, accentuating every syllable. "We can't reproduce, funny considering we're basically willpower. And some of the old guard is so, well, **old**, they're more angels in theory than actually… well. That's political nonsense for another day."

Princess K adjusted herself on her plush purple velvet chair. "Master Joshua, what's the plan for tomorrow? Princess K's skills do not lie in direct confrontation."

"Right. Yes. Well. With the brand restriction, we have to wear Lapin Angelique clothing. I have the Composer of Toshima checking it out from the north side. I owe him twenty favors for this. We're not on great terms, but he's less happy with the border, so… anyway. No political stuff. He says it's only a clothing restriction, but it makes sense to keep Lapin pins on hand, too, just in case. We'll go in groups of what… ten or twelve sound okay?"

"To Princess K's shop? Yes, clerks can be called in to assist if Master Joshua is willing to compensate them for working overnight."

"That's not even up for debate, yeah, go make your calls and get your shop ready," Joshua said. "And no combat for you tomorrow. I do need your shop open though, just in case. Sorry for putting you on the spot, Princess."

"It's not a problem, truly. Princess K will call her staff and make sure the tailors are on hand."

"Expect the first group by 9PM," Joshua said sternly. "And don't worry about needing child sized things, they're not dead, so they're not affected by the restrictions," he added, pointing a thumb at Holly and Foaly, sweeping to the rest of the faux fairies. "Though our living friends should probably get decked out."

"Won't that… make them a target?" Princess K asked worriedly. "Anyone in Lolita is going to be seen as a Reaper, or safe to harm."

Joshua clasped his fingers together. "That's the **point**, my dear."

* * *

"You're essentially asking us to be bait," Lea said, crossing his arms. Unlike the rest of the group, he deliberately seated himself on the floor, having conjured no chair or even a cushion.

Joshua sighed. "Yes. Yes I am. You're a lot smarter than you look."

"It's not hard to put together the pieces," Lea said with a shrug. "Everyone else realizes what it means to be wearing… whatever that girl was wearing, tomorrow, right?"

Sora shook his head no, as did some of the others. Ienzo, though, nodded to Lea. "Anyone in dress like that tomorrow is dead. And therefore, a safe target to maim. Yet, the dead harming the living is a massive taboo, punishable by… well, by God themselves, if what you've said is to be believed. Which I suppose it is."

"Coco's not stupid, though," Gabriel said. "Even if you were to pose as a Player coming with us, you wouldn't smell like one."

"I was… planning on hiding a few of my feathers in their pockets," Joshua said, mildly embarrassed.

"You could've asked," Lea glared. "Given how you actually treat dead people I **would've **said yes. What, just gotta fight monsters for a week to get my life back? Not like I haven't been doing it already."

Joshua leaned back in the chair, genuinely confused. "You're… willing to die?"

"Well, I'm not suicidal," Lea admitted, looking over his shoulder fondly at Roxas, Xion, and Isa. "But if it works, and my punishment is a week of mild annoyance, it's not that big a deal."

"Not everyone who dies gets to play," Joshua said, quietly. "And you'd die in Shinjuku too, so…"

"I trust you," Lea said, eyes burning as bright as his hair. "You've done nothing but protect Sora and Riku, and two more stowaways to boot."

Joshua actually laughed.

"What? Something I said?" Lea asked the group.

Neku shrugged. "Josh isn't used to being trusted, don't take it personally. Combo of most angels being self-serving dicks and hiding what he was for so long."

Joshua frowned, but nodded. "Neku's not wrong."

"So that's why the subterfuge?" Lea asked. Joshua nodded quietly.

Lea cracked his back and stood up. "Who's gonna die with me tomorrow?"

Xion and Roxas immediately stood, and Lea glared. "You're not human right now, sit."

"But we're not leaving you!"

"No, if I die, you can see me just fine like that. Hang out here with me for a week, yeah? We're all going home. **Together**. May just take a bit longer."

Roxas and Xion looked at each other and sat quietly, pouting a little. "Holding you to it," Roxas hissed. "I'm sticking with your corpse like glue."

"Technically it's his soul," Joshua offered, finger in the air. "His body'd probably- er now is **not **the time for black humor."

"I'm with you," Isa said, standing. "Can't leave you alone for five minutes without you doing something profoundly stupid."

"Well, that settles that, ha-ha!" Mickey said. "Pretty sure my **wife's **gonna kill me when I get back for it though."

"If I die, that means you're my Reapers, right?" Kairi asked Sora and Riku. "That's not so bad."

Joshua flicked his eyes between them. "I'm comfortable with everyone **but **you risking their lives," he said finally, eyeing Lea warily. "You're to wear standard streetwear tomorrow."

Lea hardened. "No way."

"Yes, way. If you can't even make yourself a chair in here, where you're quite literally swimming in Imagination, you're not going to have enough power to be a candidate for reincarnation. That is risking your life foolishly."

"Wait, so that's the qualifier for being a Player?" Lea asked, huffing. "Should've said so. I was just too lazy to bother."

He flopped backwards and landed on a giant bean bag in the shape of a Shadow Heartless.

Joshua blinked. "Excuse my French, but, holy shit." Lea hadn't just made something to sit on, but had imbued it with an artistic flair and a sense of personality, and done so in the moment it took him to flop backwards.

"This good enough for you or do I have to make a **throne **to prove my point?" Lea asked, flicking an arm to point to Artemis.

Joshua bit his lower lip. "No, you'll be just fine."

* * *

"So, now I suppose I'll come clean before moving forward," Joshua said to the group. "The original intent was to corner Coco until, when attacking us, she'd hit a bystander and kill them on accident. Hence the flash mob. God- more likely Metatron or a Throne if nobody wants to do the dirty work- would swoop down, haul her off, and with her gone, Uriel could take the district back over, name a new Composer that actually answers to her, and put the city back to rights. The poor living soul's entry fee would then be the fact that they died too soon. They'd be protected under Uriel and her Composer in the same way Rhyme and I are making special exceptions for Sora, Riku, Vanitas and Tomo. That's not to say there isn't a risk involved. If the person killed in the crossfire didn't have enough Imagination of their own, they're not eligible for reincarnation. I mean, if everyone had the chance, you'd see way more than 50 people dead in a city after a whole week. Someplace as large as Shibuya? Over 200,000 people live here, and that's not counting transients and tourists who just pass away here, to say nothing of the hospitals and clinics where people go to die. We can give perks as we see fit to the dead in extenuating circumstances like that, but… we can't make their souls coalesce after death. Only willpower itself does that."

"So this restriction forcing you all into 18thcentury French courtwear is actually a blessing in disguise," Artemis thought aloud. "I am one for subterfuge, but if someone's life were on the line by pretending to be dead, I probably would have, well, you know, **asked**. Or merely played the role of decoy myself."

"You have before, Artemis," Holly groaned. "Too many times at this point."

"Yes, and this time I won't be. You heard Butler. I truly do not need him breathing down my neck for a week in Tokyo while I gamble for my life back, divine intervention or otherwise."

"And, if it's all right with everyone here," Mary said solemnly, "I shall not be risking my life. I am over 900 and well on borrowed time. Who knows if dying for me will be the end of it," she added, squeezing the hand of the little imp leaning into her. Myde was half asleep himself, but aware enough to know he'd need to help with magic come tomorrow. More fighting. Just what he wanted. At least he could show off his magic skills to Mary- if he could still tap into them as a Somebody. She'd always chided him on not learning anything but telekinesis to hold up his papers while composing.

"Four… Four fakes is probably enough," Joshua admitted. "The rest of you, I'll need to split you up. Reapers will be helping me control the mob, you'll all be given the ability to impose your will on the communal imprint. Your goal is to guide some mass of living people in such a way as to corner Coco around myself and a small group who will directly engage her. She's going to want to take me down, for sure. Riku is a likely target as well, given that he's technically her property."

Riku bowed his head down, reflexively reaching for his right hand, still covered in the black Velcro bandage to hide his timer.

"Rhyme and I also didn't reveal her as the new Conductor just because everyone was present, in fact, it was probably the worst time to do so. She deserves a party, at a time when we're not in crisis mode."

"You made her bait as well," Isa said simply. "Word might reach Shinjuku."

"He didn't make me bait. I did," Rhyme said sternly. "I let Joshua take credit for a lot of my ideas for a reason. People think I'm stupid and weak. It's easier to let them."

"My sis is the smartest person I know. And that includes adults," Beat said proudly, slinging an arm over her. "And in six months, she can beat a few angels to a pulp. I can't wait to see how she thrashes in a year or two when I'm outta high school."

The four Players looked at her warily.

Rhyme smiled gently. "Don't worry, when you fight me Sunday, I'm under certain handicaps. But I'm not throwing the match; you need enough Imagination to be reborn properly. If you don't, you'll never come back to life."

Joshua nodded. "Continuing. You four Players, I picked you out of the group that wanted to help for a reason. You four are to be equipping healing pins only, and acting as medics if needed. If Noise chase you, and it's likely it will, you break out of the pocket dimension and stay with the group. No heroics, you die while dead, and, er, you don't get another chance. If we get Noise chasing us, that'll be on our next group."

Joshua swept his hand to the remainder of the living. "Fairies, and everyone else alive who isn't bait, your job is to keep the lanes clear. Feel free to use your magic or any skills you have, and make it showy. Coco's going to see there's people alive who can still fight Noise and it's going to do nothing but piss her off. Don't worry about being harmed, she may send Noise after you but she knows killing you will just cause more problems."

Holly glared at Joshua. "In broad daylight? Not happening. I can keep myself shielded, but not anyone else. And the cam-foil breaks too easily to be worn in any kind of combat."

"The holographic fabric?" Gabriel asked her.

"Yes. It's pretty sensitive equipment."

"What's the penalty for being visible?"

"Well, **I** won't be," Holly said. "I can shield. But there's going to be entirely too much explaining back at HQ and there's no way I can erase enough memories and video footage to get my way out of this."

"No, certainly not. But you can blame us," Joshua said, sharply. "Here, get out of jail free cards."

He tossed Holly one of the imprint pins. "If you're all under my control, what's your boss going to do about it?"

Holly laughed. "If it's possible to prove a fairy was under the effect of a Mesmer, it is the person doing the mesmer that is at fault. Police bylines on culpability, paragraph two."

"Three," Foaly corrected. "Paragraph three. Two is the one on calling one's lawyer. There was an addendum while you were MIA."

"**Pedant**."

"Proud of it," Foaly grinned, showing off a row of blunt but powerful looking teeth.

"It's a blank, don't worry. And, actually, all of us will be wearing them. Since I'm extending the imprint control to all the Reapers present, should I… become incapacitated, Coco will quickly realize the imprint isn't fading. She won't know who's doing the controlling and who's being controlled unless she physically takes the pin off your clothes."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Joshua," Artemis said, primly, "but I cannot fight in any capacity. Brains are my forte, not brawn."

"**Same**," Ienzo and Foaly both said in unison.

"Would managing communications be more your speed? Right now we don't have anyone doing that. You and Butler could. I'd be asking the four other people from the Oregon group to fight if they're capable."

"They're very good at combat," Kairi offered. "Magic and offensive fighting both."

Joshua clapped his hands. "Done. Everyone has marching orders now, yes? Get into groups of twelve, for everyone but the fairies and the living not risking their lives, and we'll take turns getting our gear for tomorrow. Neku, Beat, and Shiki, can you walk everyone else home?"

Neku nodded, giving Joshua a fist bump on the way out.

"Oh, and, nice punch, anything broken?" Joshua added, as they turned to leave.

"Just your face this time," he said with a smirk.

* * *

Joshua, Gabriel, Komaeda, Rhyme, Sora, Riku, Tomo, Vanitas, Mickey. Kairi, Isa, and Lea hurried through the glow that was Shibuya at night, the latter four getting a chance to marvel at the city bathed in neon for the first time as the final rays of the late summer sun began to fade.

"So, what, everyone gets a giant dress?" Lea asked, easily keeping pace with Joshua's hurried steps towards Princess K's store in south Harajuku.

Kairi giggled. "You'd look good in a ballgown, especially with that hair."

"Excuse you," Lea said, nose up. "I'd rock it better than you."

"Nobody is putting me in a dress," Gabriel grumbled, annoyed. "I'd sooner walk to Shinjuku totally naked than wear anything girly. And why isn't Uriel getting anything?"

"It's still her city, even if she can't control Coco," Joshua said. "She went to see if she could walk through the border in what she had on, and she can. So she's going around and checking up on all the dorms and adding extra wards, just in case things spill over and get out of control."

"Fuck her and fuck her Dragon Couture blouse and chinos," Gabriel whined. "At least DC sells sneakers."

"Lapin sells pants, too," Joshua said, rolling his eyes. "You don't **have **to get a dress."

"It's the principle of the thing!"

"Says the girl who wears Mus Rattus."

"It's cheap and comfy, knock off. And I like their line of anime tees."

"Theeeeeere's the answer," Joshua giggled back.

"So, uh, what's the deal with the clothes here?" Lea asked. "I mean, I'm familiar with magicked vestments," he added, holding the edge of his plaid button-down. "But where we're from you can't exactly buy them in shops."

"The higher choirs- er, the angels upstairs- have an arrangement with some of the shops," Joshua explained. "They provide charmed gear to the Reapers and Players to fend off the Noise," he said, pointing up and diagonally to a symbol in the air, "and we help influence the trends to get people to shop there. Free advertising, basically. We get a cut of the profit, and that's how we can pay for the more mundane parts of this. City rent's not exactly cheap, to house a couple hundred Reapers. We might own some of the buildings, but that doesn't excuse us from our taxes, sooo…"

"What's taxes?" Lea asked. Mickey stared at him for a solid minute.

"You were just a kid when you turned Nobody, weren't'cha?" he asked. "Wait 'till you have to buy property."

"Joy," Lea whined. "I guess it's more munny owed isn't it?"

"Social services don't pay for themselves," Mickey and Joshua said in unison, staring at each other, surprised, beofre Mickey finished the thought. "The joys of political leadership, ha-ha!"

A Noise flew dangerously low, and Joshua furrowed his brow. "I never found out if you guys could fight the Noise with your goggles on, did I?" he asked.

"**We** can use Keyblades, not just pins," Vanitas said with a shrug. "If they could enter the sewers, they should be able to fight, right?"

"Doesn't hurt to find out, who wants to be a guinea pig?" Joshua asked, holding out his hand. Before Lea could grab it, Kairi pulled it firmly, and Joshua called the sigil to him.

In a flash, the two were gone.

"I know I trust him in theory, but I'm still on edge," Lea admitted, watching the thing glow and flicker with interest, before it shattered and the two were back on the pavement, wide eyed.

"Crazy woman almost burned my hair off through two pocket dimensions," Joshua muttered, touching half an eyebrow, fixing it with a wince.

Lea grinned, slapping Kairi a high-five for her effort.

* * *

Lapin Angelique was small, less a store and more a boutique. A sign, in graceful calligraphy boasted the words "Private Consultation, Please Return Friday", and, when Joshua opened the door, the group was assaulted with the scent of strong black tea and freshly baked cookies.

"Welcome!" cried a chorus of voices, as six people greeted them on entry. One of them, aside from Princess K herself, sported Reaper wings, the other four seemed to just be humans.

"They know?" Joshua asked, aiming a thumb at Princess K's living assistants. She nodded politely.

"Well," Joshua said with a shrug, "if I'm getting something tailored I'd rather it around my wings than through them. All of you with goggles, mind passing them off to one of our new friends here?"

The four of them hastily removed their eyepieces, wiping them down on shirts or jackets, before leaving them on an end table. Kairi gave Riku and Sora a halfhearted smile. They looked just like they did alive without the eyewear. Quietly, she squeezed Sora's hand, still feeling like ice. She saw him blush profusely but missed the view of his wings flutter from the contact.

One of the shop assistants nervously picked up the goggles. "Sirs, madams, and friends," he said nervously, a twig of a teenager in a full suit with coattails, "oh, wow." He blinked through the eyepieces, putting his pinky through the open hole in the five yen coin on the left side just to make certain it wasn't a trick. "Princess, your wings are exquisite! As are everyone else's'."

"Praise later, we've got a lot of people to gear up," Joshua said, all business.

The young man bowed. "Yes, yes, let's get everyone sorted, shall we?"

* * *

The twelve of them were split, two per attendant, trying to keep those with similar body types together to make trying clothes easier.

Naturally, this meant Sora and Vanitas were put under the same young man who tried the goggles on first.

"Er, twins, sirs?" he asked them.

"Could you cut the small talk and please just help us?" Vanitas asked, a bit snippy.

"Vanitas!" Sora chided.

Vanitas bit his lip and sighed. "Sorry. I just really don't do well in small spaces or touching others."

"If you'd rather, I can measure your twin and bring things upstairs to you where there's less people?"

"Let's do that," Sora suggested.

The clerk pointed to a door on the side. "The tailoring room is that way. All I ask is you not touch the machines."

Vanitas nodded, and disappeared through the side door.

"Sorry," Sora admitted.

"No need to apologize. We're used to it. Princess K sometimes drags in your people. Her magic lies in just knowing when someone needs help, or a day off."

Komaeda looked over their shoulder, almost back to back with Sora in the small shop. "I kinda figured she was giving Reapers get out of work excuses," they said with a smile.

"And a makeover!" Princess K added, pouring Joshua a glass of tea as he looked through a book near the register. "Everyone likes to feel pretty sometimes, Princess K knows."

"Mhmmm, and I want whatever's going to give me the most defense," Joshua said between sips.

"Of what Princess K has now?" she asked, scanning her store. "We do not have the time to make new spells on clothing, our best defensive attire will severely hamper sir's speed or attack."

"That's fine, I'm trying to stay in one piece as long as possible."

Princess K walked between the racks, pulling out a deep blue dress with black accents and a large bow in the back. "If sir would prefer a suit, there is one that might fit the bill, but the enchantments are to one's constitution rather than defense."

Joshua didn't even consider. "Hey, Gabe, you keep complaining I'm a boy, want to fix my face?"

Gabriel poked her head out from the shop's small anime collaboration section. "Josh, honestly, If you were any more androgynous, David Bowie would be asking for his shtick back. I think you just need to grow out your hair and you're good. You know at least two-thirds your Reapers think you're hot, right?"

Joshua turned a bit pink to his ears, snatching the dress from Princess K and marching to the back room.

"Master Joshua, wait, that's a JSK! Sir needs a blouse!"

* * *

"See, look," Gabriel said, squeezing into Joshua's changing room to try on a Black Butler tuxedo collaboration. "You're cute."

"Well I know it, but it's odd to be reminded of it," Joshua admitted. "And people only find me attractive because I'm an angel. No matter how much a jerk I am, my magic makes people want to like me."

"That's absolutely not true and you know it," Gabriel said, attempting a bow tie while giving her friend a once-over. "Think you need a size down unless you want to give yourself a bit more chest."

Joshua looked down and considered, before reaching up to help fix Gabriel's bowtie. "I want it a little loose. We're still fighting tomorrow. Too uncomfortable and I can't move. It's not my city, I can't just will things to work there. And here," he finished, showing her how it tied. "You can't just use a regular necktie knot on it."

"You make a cute girl," Gabriel said, patting his head.

"I'm no more a girl just because I'm in a dress than you are a boy in a tuxedo."

"Touché. You'd still look better with longer hair, your nails done, and a little makeup. At least in this getup."

"And you need a pocket square," Joshua replied, rolling his eyes as he gave Gabriel a quick hug. "Can't be a proper anime butler without a handkerchief on hand for all the swooning shojo mistresses."

Gabriel beamed, and hugged him back, their wing tips touching in the cramped space. "I'm glad Uriel and I moved in with you. We **were**all so fucked up, weren't we?"

Joshua looked at their reflection in the mirror, and grew his hair to his shoulders.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly, shaking it out. "I was a monster."

"No," Gabriel corrected, reaching over to tease his blonde locks into loose ringlets with her own magic, "you're just not a human. You and I both used to see humans the way humans saw ant colonies. Or bees. A little terrarium with you as a god. And while it's not wrong, it's, well, missing the point. All those ants and bees still had lives, and lives with meaning. It wasn't our place to go sticking our hands in just because we were bored."

"I see Coco, and I see myself," Joshua said slowly. "More so now that I'm wearing the clothes she likes."

"You were never that bad, Josh."

"No, I was worse. I nearly blew up the entire Underground. A third of the people helping us would have just… ceased to be. And all of them trust me? Why could they poss-"

His hushed whisper was promptly cut off.

"Can Princess K offer any assistance in there, Master Joshua?"

"He wants another glass of tea and his makeup done," Gabriel cried out for him. "And a dress for me, please. That Unineko collab would be prefect."

"Ah, yes, Princess K has one left in good miss's size. Hang on, we will fetch it from the stockroom."

Joshua perked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Which- forcing you to sit still in a chair for makeup or me in a dress?"

"Yes."

"You need a chill pill and I'm going to show you that it's just fucking clothes, Josh. Get over yourself."

"You really need to take that psychology course you've been whining about, that's a horrible way to cheer someone up," Joshua mock-whined, almost laughing.

"It works on you."

"Yeah, yeah, it kinda does."

* * *

"Look, look! Pirates!" Sora said, bounding up the stairs to the second floor, the teenager behind him looking a bit worse for wear receiving the full blast of Sora trying on clothes. The room Vanitas had been pointed towards was eerie at night- filled with mannequins pinned up with half-finished mock-ups, piles of fabric on tables next to ancient looking sewing machines. Vanitas and Flood almost collectively jumped as Sora thrust a long burgundy coat in his face. "When I go to Port Royal my vestments turn into something just like this! And they have two in our size!"

Vanitas took a step back. "Sora, slow down."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, overload," Sora replied, sheepish. "Here, try it."

Vanitas rolled his eyes, before taking off his windbreaker and carefully shrugging on the coat. Immediately, he fell to the floor. He wasn't in pain, per se, but weak, woozy, like he were on his last legs in a fight to the death. He snapped his arms out, and clutched his chest.

"The fuck."

He took a few deep breaths, then ordered Flood to prod the coat on the floor, wary, like it were a venomous snake.

Finally, Vanitas spied the handwritten tag attached with a safety pin on a cord.

**[Mortal Peril: Grants the wearer double strength on all pins in exchange for perpetual Mortal Peril]**

"Are you trying to kill me… again?!" Vanitas snapped. "I don't even fight with pins!"

"I… oh," Sora said embarrassed. "I should have asked about the tags."

"You don't fight with pins, sir?" their attendant asked. Vanitas at least had the decency to look embarrassed, and pick up the coat by the collar off the floor.

"Not don't. **Can't**," Vanitas hissed. "I fight with a… with a sword, and this abomination," he added, jabbing a thumb at Flood. The Unversed picked its head up and chittered happily.

"May I take the coat? I have a few ideas that might be more suitable to your combat style."

Vanitas sank in a swivel chair next to one of the ancient Juki machines. "A fuckup is me," he sighed annoyed.

"Change takes time, Vanitas," Sora said, trying on his own coat, clutching his chest, but having the decency to take it off properly and set it aside. "And oof, that feels really weird."

Vanitas nodded. "So, no bottles of rum for ye, ye scurvy pirate?" he asked, raising the pitch of his voice to match Sora's tone more closely.

"Vanitas, never do that again. Ever."

"Yarrr, me matey, swab the deck and hoist the mainsails!"

"I'll take a video of it and send it to Ventus!"

"And?" Vanitas said, eyebrow cocked. "Stopped caring what he thinks. Not worth the trouble."

"How do you even speak pirate anyway?" Vanitas leaned forward and poked Sora in the chest with a smirk.

"You were so damn excited you woke us all up when you visited Port Royal a few years ago. Roxas was pissed, and the only reason he didn't straight up possess you was that his girlfriend was there."

Sora turned pink to his ears. "Right. Did… I mean, other than that time I was drowning, did you ever… um… possess me?"

"**Times** you were drowning," Vanitas corrected. "And… yeah, but never on purpose. The only one who ever did was Roxas."

"Right… I remember sometimes I'd just blurt out something that wasn't me."

"That and your sudden obsession with ice cream. You never really liked sweets growing up."

"How much… did you see, anyway?"

"Bits," Vanitas said, slouching back in the swivel chair. "Sometimes, when you were really emotional or really stressed, it was like I had a body again, just, y'know, without the control. I could see and hear what you did and felt, too. Sometimes I could just sort of gather echoes. I could just… sleep's the wrong word, but… something like stasis I guess?- and wake up months later, only aware so much time had passed because of a snippet of conversation that filtered down or seeing a calendar in a moment of clarity. There was something you had a lot of that I was always really jealous of."

"Friends?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Well, yeah, that. But… well. **Love**."

Sora reached out, offering a hand. Vanitas squeezed it.

An unholy shriek broke the silence.

* * *

"I thought only Joshua brought you out," Vanitas cried, fallen out of his chair.

Sora leaned down, scratching his nail on the floor to try and coax out the unruly peacock. "That's because you're afraid of me and Riku. Joshua didn't come with any of that pre… precon… any idea of who he was before."

"**Preconceived notions**," Vanitas grumbled, squatting to look under the sewing desk at a rat's nest of wire. "I think it's stuck."

"Aw, your love is stuck," Sora cooed at it.

"I am not in love with you!"

"Uhhhh… not that kind," Sora replied. "Hercules once said there were what? Five kinds of love or something? Only one is romantic. The rest were friendships, familial love…"

"I get it, stop rubbing it in. Go me, I have the power of friendship," he muttered, staring at the screaming bird. "Why is it such an asshole?"

"Because friendship takes hard work to maintain?" Sora asked, as he heard thundering from the stairs behind him. An incredibly gorgeous young woman with loose golden curls and a blue-black dress stormed into the room.

"Your cock is stuck," Joshua said, dryly, once he realized what the racket was upstairs. He was half-worried he'd need to imprint on Vanitas again.

"You could have phrased it any way but that," Vanitas stammered out, realizing who he was talking to.

"Could have, **didn't**," Joshua said with a grin that knew exactly what he was doing. "You scared me half-to-life so I'm going to push your buttons for it." Joshua squatted, swept his hair back, and carefully began unplugging sewing machines, embroidery machines, and sergers to extricate the very irate Unversed.

"So, little mister Pride, what did Sora tell you to have you come out of hiding?" he cooed at it as he worked, finally pulling the beast out from under the table, bouncing it a little in his arms. "Look at you, Mister High Maintenance."

Vanitas turned slightly more pink and the Unversed began to calm, wiggling its tailfeaters and snuggling up to Joshua's neck.

"Oh, no, you are not going to grow, you stupid bird," Vanitas snapped at it, without bite.

The peacock trilled, and grew about a foot in size. Vanitas actually had to slump over on the floor, overwhelmed.

"Joshua, please put it down, Vanitas is still pretty shaky on this whole 'love' thing," Sora insisted. Joshua gulped, embarrassed, and dropped the bird like a hot stone, flinging himself out of the room, knocking over their attendant on the way down.

"Oof," he whimpered. "Here, I've got some better options for you two."

* * *

"Joshua-fucking-Malakh."

"What?" Joshua cried out.

"I don't know what you did," Gabriel huffed, stomping over to him like she didn't know how to wear heels- a solid truth- "but you're marching right back up there to apologize."

"You look good in that," Joshua stammered out, his brain still stuck in 'Vanitas' and 'love', given his earlier worries about non-angels and their innate obsession with him. The last thing he needed was to impose his celestial will on Sora and his friends. Natives swooning over him was enough.

"Damn straight, now march before I get Biblical on your ass. In the 'holy wrath' sense, not the er… Just go."

Kairi popped her head out from between the racks. "Oh! I picked the same thing, just in pink instead of blue!" she chirped, looking at Joshua's ensemble before ducking her head back in to try and find a cute hat to match.

* * *

Komaeda sat awkwardly in a plush chair near the tea and cookies, eating absentmindedly. The cookies smelled nice enough, sort of a herbal-lemon scent, and made in the shape of little tea bags in such a way that they could be slotted on the sides of one of Princess K's probably very expensive teacups to soak a little of tea into the harder shortbread.

They busied themselves with the catalog, thumbing back and forth, trying to figure out how to address the situation.

There weren't too many options for Komaeda's child-sized frame. At least, they didn't find any that weren't extremely frilly. The plainer tailcoats and waistcoats were only in adult sizing.

Princess K, now herself free from her own two charges- Joshua and Gabriel both in stunning ensembles- noticed the oversized-hoodie wearing Reaper fidgeting near the front of her shop.

"Princess K doesn't have many options in sir's size. Shall we collect them all for perusal?"

"Toshi already showed me everything you have that I could wear or that could be tailored down in an evening," Komaeda replied, biting into their seventh cookie. It tasted like ash.

"May Princess K inquire what the issue is?"

"I'm not a sir," Komaeda replied, cutting Princess K off before she could apologize. "Or a miss."

"Ah." Princess K flicked a finger, and a second chair scooted its way to them from over by a far mirror, for trying on shoes. She sat primly, facing Komaeda. "Princess K would like to speak frankly, if our honored guest will allow it."

"Not like you can do anything," Komaeda replied glumly, shutting the catalog.

Princess K inhaled, and her strict features softened a little, her tone completely changed. "I have a not insignificant number of customers who fall into the same boat, friend, er,"

"Komaeda."

"Your last name?"

"Yeah."

Princess K nodded. "Komaeda, the advice I'm about to give you is usually meant as a visualization exercise. I have many people walk through here who wear Lolita because it's an escape from reality. A chance to look at gender normalizations and give them the biggest 'fuck you' possible. Salarymen who want to be beautiful. Hosuewives who long to be princes. Whether it's a fantasy indulged from time to time, or a total change in lifestyle, my job is simple. Make sure everyone who leaves, leaves with something that makes them feel gorgeous, handsome, or both."

Komaeda snorted. "You sound a lot different when you're trying to be a mom."

"I was one, last go-around. More tea, Komaeda?"

"S-sorry, and, yeah, please."

"Anyway, the advice I normally give to those who come in, worried, questioning their gender is this: come in, and I'll help you be the princess, prince, butler, maid, whatever you please. But know that when you take it off and have to return to family or friends, those who may not understand that who you are isn't the suit or skirt you wear daily, but the skirt or suit you'd prefer to wear, you're a secret agent. You're undercover, filling a mission, so that, when you're off the clock, you can take off that disguise of Mister Salaryman or Miss Perfect Wife or Miss Secretary or whatever else you hate and wear what you'd rather be in. And in your case, this couldn't be more true. You're duty bound to my things, thanks to tomorrow, so treat it the same. You're quite literally going to be wearing a disguise tomorrow and infiltrate the enemy. And when it's over, take it off and put on what makes you feel right."

"You're not mad that that's what this is?"

"Oh, normally I detest tourists and people who treat this like some sort of Halloween shop," Princess K elaborated. "But this is a literal emergency. And I think I've converted a pair of angels, so I'm willing to let a few of my pieces be used as costuming," she added with a devilish glare, eyeing Gabriel twirling in front of the mirror, as she changed the color and curl of her hair to best match her new floor-length gown. "If you tell me your fighting style, I'll find an outfit to best accompany it. But, given the sizing choices, it's probably going to be a dress."

"I can wear a costume for a day."

"Then we'll do it correctly. I have a few wigs that would fit your head too. Full Lolita costume, I'll be rolling in my own grave for this, but it's a necessary evil."

"Thanks, Princess K," Komaeda said, taking another bite of a cookie and actually tasting it this time.

"It's Kaede," she said, squeezing Komaeda's hand gently. "And I'm sending you home with a tray of those. I'm sure your dormmates don't eat enough home-cooked food."

"I don't even know how to cook," Komaeda admitted.

Suddenly, Princess K's trademark disdain returned to her face.

"Well!" she huffed. "Princess K knows that any fine upstanding noble knows their way around running a proper tea or garden party. Princess K beseeches our esteemed guest to return next week for proper culinary lessons."

"Frilly apron mandatory?" Komaeda asked, almost spitting out their tea.

She winked, and dropped the act for one final comment. "Only if you'd like."

Komaeda smiled as Princess K strode off to go grab some items. No wonder people moaned so loudly about the horrors of being kidnapped by her. If word got out how good she was, well… every Reaper in the city would be knocking down her tiny purple door.

* * *

Vanitas frowned, fumbling with the buttons on the dress shirt that wasn't making him feel like he was on deaths door- metaphorically, as literally he'd long since tipped the doorman and ridden the elevator up for a penthouse view. A few silk ties with varying minor effects were draped over the back of the swivel chair, several waistcoats, pants, and a high waisted skirt were off to the side. Vanitas eyed the skirt. It had a crossed belt, much like the one on his own jumpsuit, and was probably as comfortable. More so than most of the pants, at least, though the one with suspenders was a contender, and came with a minor regeneration ability.

"You done freaking out?" Vanitas asked, as Joshua stood in the doorway, afraid he was intruding. Sora sat on the floor, keeping Flood and the peacock occupied, having already chosen his own clothing. The peacock was surprisingly accepting of his affection.

"I was **just** talking with Gabriel how it's a problem that most of the Reapers are infatuated with me."

"Yeah, well she and Uriel gave you a nice face. And you're not as bad a person as you think you are."

"-and then I come up here to find out that Unversed is love. A creature that came about after I imprinted on you, might I add."

"Because you're the first person that's ever cared, sorry Sora, it's true," Vanitas fumbled with the tie. "How the fuck does this go on?"

"Want a hand?" Joshua offered, nervously, looking between Vanitas and the increasingly haggard attendant.

"Well, you or him, I just need to figure this shit out."

"That's a loaded statement," Joshua said. "Hey, Kazu, I've got this, go take a break. We're only the first group of the night."

The young man hastily bowed, and disappeared from the room.

"Vanitas, you're three days dead, and from the sounds of it, three days out of the hole, too," Joshua offered, taking a tie and standing next to him to walk him through a half-Windsor. "I'm not saying you're confused about stuff right now-"

"I am."

"He is," Sora added from the peanut gallery.

"But your emotions are haywire. Especially your fears."

"Point?" Vanitas asked, looking down at the tie. He felt a little like he was a suitor at a ball, frowning hard that it was a memory leaked from his and Ventus's shared time in Sora, and not one of his own. Why did he have to have all of Ventus's memories, but not the other way around- not that he really wished his time with the old bastard on anyone.

Sora smiled. He was so, so very oblivious so often that when he had a stroke of genius it tended to catch people off guard. "Joshua, it's just love. Not romantic love. The feeling of being cared for. Why do you think it's so needy, and colorful, and just a bit… well, impractical?"

Joshua dropped the tie from his fingers. "**I'm** the first person that cared about you, Vanitas?"

"Well, I mean, ages ago when Ventus and I were one person-" Vanitas started, eyes downwards, but Sora cut him off.

"Not Ventus. **You**, Vanitas." Sora fluffed the peacock's feathers under the chin, and it trilled.

Vanitas never felt so calm. "Y-yeah. You were, Joshua." He gulped, and grabbed for the angel, pulling him into a tight hug, or as tight as he could manage. Gently, Joshua wrapped him in his wings, trying to exude some sense of calm from him.

**Love**, not lust, not attraction. This is what angels were supposed to be, though most tended to forget when they realized what their power did to the little ant colonies of humans far below them.

Vanitas let go, smiling. Not smirking, not this time.

"Tomorrow, we kill a god," Joshua reminded him. "So get your armor, and we go. Three more groups need equipment tonight, and it's already after ten."

"Tomorrow we kill a god," Vanitas agreed, still smiling. "For a friend."

"For Riku, and everyone else in Shinjuku, besides," Joshua added, nodding.

"You know, you really do look good in that," Vanitas offered.

Sora perked up with a "Yup!"

"Damn straight," Joshua said. "I'll be back, so long as Princess K stops cooing at me; there's a bunny-eared poncho in the window that's the same purple as my eyes."

* * *

_**unlike gabriel's shitty advice, princess k's is legit advice thats helped me with my dysphoria. might not work for everyone, but on really bad days i play secret agent, go home, and change into something else for a while that makes the shitty facade feel less, well, shitty.**_

_**right now for me, that's working on an aziraphale (good omens) cosplay. i already wear a lot of waistcoats and slacks at work, but its nice to wear them with a very short wig and a binder and not feel ungodly self conscious about it.**_


	37. last night on earth

_**some housekeeping.**_

_**august is going to be INSANELY busy. I have 2 speaking arrangements, back to back. august 23-25 i'm a cosplay guest at Keystone Comic Con (philadelphia), teaching two panels on cosplay electronics and prop-building.**_

_**the following weekend, aug 30-sept 2, I'm a panelist at PAX west (seattle) teaching a panel on using psychology to navigate game tournaments. it's neat!**_

_**because of the prepwork and travel involved, i will not be posting the last six chapters until september. the schedule will be as follows:**_

_**sep 4: 38, sep 7: 39, sep 11: 40, sep 14: 41, sep 18: 42, and the finale on my birthday, september 21.**_

_**the final battle and aftermath chapters are already all outlined and being worked on as a complete unit, so i don't want to release any until they're all done anyway (and one or two might be more than 10k). this gives me six weeks to write.**_

_**again, i can't thank you all enough for your love and support. i'm surprised nobody's picked up on the final twist yet, but i hope i didn't hide it so well it feels like it comes out of left field.**_

_**please enjoy the last night on earth, and see you in shibuya, i mean, september.**_

* * *

"Everyone settled and accounted for?" Joshua asked, stretching out his wings as he addressed everyone crowded together on the third floor of their now four-floor one floor apartment. Joshua had to admit, the space to entertain was welcome, but after the whole thing was over he'd ask Gabriel to collapse off the top two floors. Four was entirely too much to keep clean, even with magic.

"The bath was lovely," Tiana chirped. "Boy, did I need a soak."

"Glad to hear it," Gabriel beamed. "Now, Josh, you wanted to go over some house rules?"

Joshua nodded, addressing everyone. "First, to our Reapers, remember to sleep with five yen coins on your eyes again tonight. I want to make sure we have enough eyepieces for tomorrow. We'll do the same."

"What about the four we left at the store?" Tomo asked.

"Rhyme is in the last group to go, with the four Players. She'll bring them back. And by them, I mean both the goggles and the Players. They need a place to sleep. Normally, Players are put in stasis, but since I've pulled them temporarily out of the game like you guys, they're crashing here. And as we don't have enough goggles for everyone right now, just be aware of this. If it's cold when you sit down, scoot over. I'm sure they don't want to be sat on. I also want you to know that they're exempt from the rest of the week's missions. They're helping tomorrow, they'll get a pass all the way to reincarnation. But that's not their business to know until tomorrow's over.

"I'll set up rooms for them on the top floor so someone doesn't accidentally sleep on them, too. Other than that, you're free to do what you want. If you want to leave the apartment, just see one of us so we can give you a key and keep track of it. If you're dead, go in pairs," he added, rolling his eyes. "But you know that already. Gabriel and Uriel can show you how to use the tub, and where food is. I have pins to press. We'll sleep in shifts, so at least one of us will always be up. Angels only sleep two hours, anyway. Try and get some rest, but if not, feel free to spar on the roof. I'll draw up a sigil so normal people won't see anything. Am I missing anything?"

"I want to see how my wild card's magic affected them," Rudol said, authoritatively, sweeping a hand at Vanitas, Tomo, Riku, and Sora.

Joshua shrugged. "Be my guest, and let me know if you find anything interesting."

He summoned the actual card from the aether. "I can't give it back until they're alive, but you're welcome to examine it. If it goes too far from me or Rhyme, it'll disintegrate, so don't try and run with it."

"Was not planning on it," Rudol said, reverently, taking back his magic ward. "Curious."

"Well, I have work to do, come down to the kitchen if you need me, or need a snack," Joshua said, folding his wings behind him as he descended the stairwell.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Gabriel squinted a little. "Go see him if you need to, but give him some space otherwise. Despite popular belief, Josh isn't an extrovert. He may not be sleepy, but he's sure as Satan drained."

* * *

Rudol adjusted the goggles on his face, sitting with his card and the four not-truly-Reapers.

"Show me."

Several in earshot winced as four Velcro bandages came undone, showing off four timers. Rudol lifted his goggles, looked at their hands, taking Tomo's and turning it this way and that, making noises as he considered, put his goggles on again, and did the same thing.

"Hang on, I need to borrow someone else alive who isn't a fairy," he muttered, got up, and left, leaving the four of them staring, confused.

"What do you think he sees?" Sora asked, worriedly.

"I think… I think he can see the numbers even when he's not wearing the goggles," Tomo said, twisting his wrist. "He was still tracing the infinity symbol with his thumbnail even with them off."

"Weird."

"Extremely," Rudol said, sitting down with Lea and the blonde Assassin. "And, yes, I can. What about you two?"

"Us two what?" Lea asked, cocking his head in confusion.

Tomo held up his hand. Lea scrunched his face, confused, and Rudol passed him his goggles.

"Oh. Ohhhh. Does that… hurt?"

Tomo, Vanitas, and Sora shook no.

"It stings a little every time the number changes."

The rest of the group looked with shock at Riku.

"You never said anything," Sora, said, worried, grabbing for his friend's wrist. Riku snapped it away.

"It's not bad or anything, just annoying."

"Negative sixty-five hours and change," Rudol frowned. "It was all nines when you started, correct?"

"Yeah, Coco attacked me around noon or so yesterday. Technically, it was over a hundred hours, because ninety nine minutes is really an extra hour and a half, but…" Riku trailed off, sighing.

"Riku, I'm not sure this is a death timer at all."

Vanitas frowned. "What do you mean '**not sure**'? It's your magic, and you're a time mage. Don't tell me getting recompleted fucked your memory."

"That's… well, it's not at all what I mean." He sighed, and quickly explained how the card worked, the same way he'd done for Ienzo.

"So… you're saying we need to bring in someone else," Vanitas said, understanding it the quickest. Sora was still pointing around with his fingers, mentally trying to detangle the explanation.

"Oh! When I asked Joshua if he could use my fee on someone else, he did say it felt like it would be useful for one-to-three more people!" Sora said, the only helpful thing he could contribute. "Riku and I had it to start, and Tomo and Vanitas made two more. So we need to find a third player… but then what?"

"The spell ends."

"**But then what**," Vanitas echoed, flatly. "The spell ends could just as well erase us from existence as it would… well, not."

"Best possible scenario though… wouldn't that be coming back to life?" Tomo asked.

"Not if we want to stop that stupid timer," Vanitas frowned. "Think about it. **We **three match. We were alive, now we're dead. And we've all got the same marking. Riku died twice. Best chance of getting a pair and a three of a kind isn't just using it on some rando. We need someone else who died twice too."

"I… died twice. Technically speaking," Lea offered. "Getting my heart ripped out and then having my Nobody destroyed would count, right?"

Vanitas frowned. "Maybe, but you're not dead now."

"You **do **realize a four of a kind is a superior hand to a full house, correct?" Rudol asked, annoyed he'd need to explain the basics of poker.

"Yes, but what of the fifth card?" Unlike the rest of them, Vanitas had played Rudol in poker exactly once, and quickly regretted it. Helmet obscuring his face or otherwise, the man was supernaturally good at calling a bluff.

"It's called a **kicker**, and it breaks ties."

"But it couldn't be used in a four of a kind; even when all jokers are in play two people can't have the same set of four."

"This is true," Rudol admitted, frowning. "The fifth card in a four of a kind wouldn't matter."

"A full house it is," Vanitas said, with a shrug. "It's as good a lead as any."

"Where are we going to find someone who's died twice?" Riku asked, clutching at his hand. Vanitas pointed downwards. "**Hell**?!"

"Joshua is **downstairs**, you albino idiot. If anyone knows how many times someone's kicked the bucket in this city, it's him. Go talk to him. Or fuck it, you need a break. I'll ask."

Vanitas shot up, ignoring the temporary vertigo. "Sora, with me, there's something I need to do before I crash, anyway."

Sora scrambled to his feet, picking up their bandages, chasing after Vanitas down the stairs. "Vanitas! Your hand wrap!"

"There's nobody here I have to hide it from!"

* * *

Riku sat in stunned silence, quietly picked up his bandage, and re-rolled it around his hand and wrist. Ienzo, once he saw Rudol was done with the group, had tapped Tomo to go off and talk elsewhere. Rudol, too, asked him lightly if he was interested in a game of some kind with Holly and Foaly before turning in; Riku rejected it quietly.

Once Lea and the blonde Nobody disappeared off downstairs with the other Nobodies, Isa, Roxas, and Xion, Riku exhaled, stretched out his shoulders and wings, and jumped a solid food off the ground when a cold hand dropped onto his shoulder.

"Fuck!" he screeched.

The offender giggled a little behind him. "Sorry Riku. And did you just **curse**?"

Riku turned, to see Kairi in what was most definitely one of Gabriel's nightgowns. "Vanitas rubs off on people."

"Rubs off on nothing, he looks like a goth Sora."

"He spent most of his existence tethered to Sora's heart," Riku supplied with a shrug. "Given how many people have, I've just stopped questioning it. It's not worth the effort."

Kairi plopped down next to Riku. "I have Naminé and Xion, so… I get it. And you have Tomo."

"**Have **is kind of a weird word there," Riku admitted. "He's… a lot kinder than I am. He was literally created to be a more ideal… well, me."

"Okay, but see, I just met two pairs of real, actual twins, and one set of them was literally just sort of going into that same 'you're the better version of me' spiral that you are now. He's not better than you any more than Lea and I are better Keyblade wielders. We're different. He's got more combat and magical experience by a full decade, but I have light magic he literally can't use. We just have different strengths and weaknesses."

"You don't share the same memories and face as Lea," Riku retorted.

"We have a lot of memories we made together while training," Kairi replied defiantly. "Or if you'd rather a more literal example, Naminé, then. Until she was made, we had the same memory. But we're very different people now."

For a few minutes, they sat in a comfortable, awkward silence, just barely not touching on the tatami floor.

"Are you scared?"

Riku looked at her, awkwardly. "Of what?"

"Of… something going wrong tomorrow. If it fails, Sora could still come back to life, at least how I understand it. And Vanitas, and Tomo."

Riku frowned. "Hey, Kairi," he said, tone soft, as he deflected her question. "Don't answer if you don't want to but… what was it like to die?"

"I… what?"

"Well, I didn't die, not like Sora or you or Vanitas or Tomo did. I was Tomo's game fee. I kind of just… got pulled to this world. If tomorrow fails, then… I only have two days left after that."

"It was…" Kairi gulped, and gripped his arm tightly, his dead form's chill grounding her. "Dying wasn't so bad. It felt like I was just floating around in a big pool filled with lots of other people who'd died. I wasn't alone. It was… getting ripped apart by Xehanort. That was bad. Pain, everywhere and nowhere all at once for what felt like forever. The water almost felt like a reward, honestly."

Riku started shuddering.

"Riku? Riku? Are you crying?"

"No," he said flatly.

She reached across the invisible barrier between them and squeezed his hand.

"Well… why don't we go back to my corner of the room and not cry together?" she asked, tugging his arm and wrapping him around her. She was never particularly warm, not physically, being so small, but compared to him, she was a little furnace.

"Up we go," she said, smiling gently, tugging on him until he was standing, wrapped around her like a boa constrictor wrapping around an artificially warmed tree branch at the zoo. "That's right. Let's go turn in. Sora will find us once he's done with Vanitas."

* * *

"Someone who's died twice?" Joshua asked, frowning. "The only person I could think of is Rhyme, and that's a technicality. She's actually still alive."

"How can you be alive **and **be a Reaper?" Vanitas downed a glass of ice water, staring at Joshua, confused, as the angel methodically pressed more pins.

"My city, remember? If she wants to transfer out, yeah, she'd have to die first or the other city's Composer would need to accept her alive."

"That's morbid!" Sora cried.

"So is Jack Skellington." When Sora stared at him, scandalously, Joshua continued. "You don't think I didn't play Kingdom Hearts at all? With **Gabriel **for a roommate?"

Vanitas frowned. "What about all the people Coco attacked?" Vanitas kept his mouth shut on knowing that the Players and destroyed Reapers from Shinjuku were in Uriel's care… somewhere. Sora was good, nice, friendly, and terribly bad at keeping secrets. This was a card Vanitas would far rather play close to his chest.

Joshua frowned, and slammed hard on the pin machine. "We don't talk about that. But… they might qualify. I wouldn't even try it until Coco's down, though."

"But it would work."

Joshua perked up a little at that. "I think you're on to something, at the very least."

"We only have one chance to get it right," Vanitas huffed. "I'm taking this seriously."

Joshua nodded sagely; Vanitas clearly was. "I think you've really made some good friends here," he said simply, going back to his work. "Been one too."

Sora beamed. "Yeah! And don't forget, when we're alive, the offer still stands. I know Mom would take you in in a heartbeat!"

Vanitas put up a finger like he was going to contradict his statement, but put it down with a sigh. "Hey, before we crash, can we go blow off some steam? I need to punch something."

"Spar or fight Noise?"

"Noise."

Joshua chucked a pin at Vanitas.

"The fuck am I supposed to do with this?" Vanitas whined, as Flood greedily snaked up his side, eyeing it hungrily. "Down, Flood."

"No, have him eat it. Remember what I said about the blanks?"

Vanitas sighed, rolled his eyes, and held the pin down to Flood. "Stay." After a few seconds of the beast practically salivating, Vanitas opened his fingers and Flood sucked off the design, belching out a bassline that shook the floor for a moment.

Joshua winced. "Shouldn't have used a Street Jam pin. Our neighbors are going to come up banging about music volume again."

* * *

Vanitas ran through the city, howling with laughter. Again, the angels just let them run loose in Shibuya and not in the 'I'm secretly having another person tail you' kind of way. Vanitas had spent his entire existence as a separate creature to know what being perpetually tailed felt like.

A Reaper in uniform flapped overhead, and Vanitas gave him an odd nod. The Game had ended hours ago. Sora noted his confusion. "I think there's still some sort of night watch," he hissed at Vanitas. "Komaeda found me Sunday night, apparently long after last week's game had ended."

Vanitas took a single large flap of his wings so he could converse without being overheard by the random passerby. "Anything big and nasty around here?"

"Not unless you're suicidal," the Reaper replied, annoyed. "It's blue."

"Blue?" Vanitas asked, before spying the massive blue insignia floating behind a haggard looking man. "Oh. Big and ugly. We'll grab it."

"Are you nuts?" the Reaper asked back. "I'm just monitoring tonight. Plan is to take it down with a team after tomorrow's death march is over. Don't want a good Reaper out of commission early."

"Can't be that bad, it'll just be a warmup."

The Reaper frowned under their hood. "Pretty sure I can't stop you, but flee if it's too bad. I'm a medic, not a fighter."

Vanitas landed, and grinned.

"Are you sure?" Sora asked him, the only person on the ground who heard the entire exchange.

"Let's wreck some shit."

* * *

Vanitas cartwheeled, holding out his slim Keyblade like a fencing sword, sticking to jabs instead of bashing strikes. It may not have been his preferred method, but he was nothing if not a surprisingly quick study. One had to adapt when being dragged around by literal evil incarnate for so long.

And they said he had no light in his heart, bah!

He and Flood were definitely making some sort of dent in the giant bright purple graffiti elephant, but not much, even with the distant other-plane wailing coming from Sora thwacking the thing with his own blade and the occasional support of magic. The neon of Shibuya thrummed as the two of them got into the groove of damaging the beast from their own planes, dodging, and picking up their combos again, Vanitas laughing silently as he realized Sora was the heavy fighter while he was the speedster for once.

After the scare with Sora's Heartless that morning, followed by exhausting social requirements, pin making, standing in the stupid August heat in his bodysuit, and more social and political bullshit, it was refreshing to let loose before sleep. Right now, tomorrow, and the day after didn't matter. Just a stupid purple elephant and bashing it in its equally stupid face.

Vanitas felt warm, not in the 'ouch its August in the middle of a paved city with no heatsinks' sort of way, but in the 'hey, something's up with my magic' sort of way.

Followed immediately by a mix of panic and sheer glee that he had access to some of- any of- **none of **his old magic, his brain finally supplied as he realized the source.

The white pin, the dead one that Flood had sucked dry, was now colored in, or rather, drawn in, as the design was almost all black and white, like the Reapers' noise summoning pins. Vanitas didn't take too long to study it; he was still ducking out of the way of tusks and trunk and treelike legs, but in the moments when he looked down, he saw it was a yin-and-yang, with a red dot where the white should be and a blue one where the black was intended to sit.

Flood eyed the pin, ran up, and sniffed it, then made a face.

Whatever the white pin had been, well, it wasn't something Flood wanted to eat.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Busy!"

"Ah yeah," Vanitas called to the aether, irritated. "And I'm not."

"Just tell me!"

"The white pin Josh gave me has a design on it, but Flood won't eat it."

"What's it look like?"

"A yin-yang."

"Kinda like two cats with stars?"

"Uh, no. Why?"

"I have one like that. It's a healing pin."

"It's nothing like that. Um… I'm going to try using it. "

Sora was quiet for a moment, not even grunting. "If things are bad, I'll break us out."

Vanitas grit his teeth, and felt for the single bit of magic he now had. When he opened his mind's eye, the elephant had frozen solid, and Sora floated opposite him. Vanitas panicked, Sora shouldn't be flying around unless necessary, before realizing the floor had disappeared completely.

"What did you do?" Sora asked, concerned, as coins slowly rained from the sky, with colors and numbers. Without thinking, Vanitas plucked at one, a yellow 3. He grabbed another yellow, then another, feeling his power growing stronger. No more yellow were in his reach, but the one he'd just grabbed was an eight, and a green eight was right in his grasp.

He reached out for it, and it seemed to keep powering him stronger.

"Chain colors and numbers!" Vanitas ordered, with a rasp, feeling something deep welling within him.

"Vanitas, no, you're like… you're spewing darkness!"

"Sora," Vanitas growled, "I **am **darkness. If I were spewing light, **then **I'd be worried." Sora nervously grabbed for a coin, then another, and as Vanitas felt himself fill with darkness, Sora was filling with… light.

A yin-yang. Of course.

Flood wouldn't touch the pin because it was a joint magical skill. It had no energy on its own for him to eat.

The stasis bubble around them freezing the elephant was beginning to shatter. "Sora, if we're going to use this, we have to do it now."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, exhaling an angelic golden glow. Vanitas grabbed for Sora's hand, and both breathed out their respective magics at the same time. A swirl of black and white, purple and gold, red and blue… it was almost too dizzying to think about. Vanitas felt the rush of tens of Keyblades… some he recognized and many he didn't, not real ones, merely manifestations of their respective darkness and light, coalesce and strike at the massive Noise.

The Noise trumpeted loudly, and Vanitas could feel both it starting to fade, as well as their pin-bound magic.

"One more! Hit them hard!" Sora shouted, likely realizing the same thing.

"**Burn in hell**!" Vanitas cried, an oversized manifestation of both Found Memories and Kingdom Key piercing the Noise from either side like a double shish-kebab.

Vanitas exhaled one last breath of his magic, and the world tilted back to normal. Sora scooped up the pin it left behind in its wake before Flood ate it, while Vanitas breathed a sense of calm, slowly landing back on solid ground before scratching at his pant leg to call Flood back to him.

"**Burn in hell**? Really?" Sora asked him as the two of them strode past the night watchperson, no worse for wear.

"It was the first thing that came out!"

"It was… kinda cool. There's definitely worse battle cries," Sora admitted, as the Reaper squeaked once the two were out of earshot. "Next time we say it together, then."

"Damn straight. And you can let your girlfriend know I corrupted you," Vanitas added, giving his twin a noogie.

"Want to head back?"

"Yeah, I think I got the… whatever it was… out of my system."

"Anxiety."

"That's what that was?"

"I'm pretty good at telling when people are feeling down," Sora admitted. "You're worried."

"Yeah," Vanitas admitted. "People are going to get hurt tomorrow. Don't give me that look. It's the first time I actually have names and faces for this. It hurts… seeing that someone I know personally might get injured."

"That's why I fight, Vanitas."

"What, because people get hurt?"

"No, to stop it from happening in the first place."

"Even if it kills you?"

Sora stopped and gestured to himself. "Did it for Kairi. Would again in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, but you had a literal angel in your corner."

"I didn't know that when I did. And if I know I might not next time, it wouldn't stop me anyway."

Vanitas ground his teeth. "You've got… you're **an idiot**, Sora."

"So?" he shrugged. "I'm an idiot with friends. Home?"

Vanitas turned his eyes towards the angels' apartment building, and smiled. That **was **a good word to use for that place. "Home."

* * *

"Something you wanted to show me, Ienzo?" Tomo asked, as he wrapped his wrist back up with the cloth. He didn't really need to, but it felt more in solidarity with Riku than anything else.

"Mhm, on the roof," Ienzo said, walking slowly, one hoof in front of the other. "I just need to take one of the cam-foils so I'm not spotted in the elevator."

"Right," Tomo said, fluttering his wings. "Living people can see you. What's it like?"

Ienzo snorted out a whinny. "**Fun**," he grumbled. "I could have been anything. I feel utterly useless like this. And I thought I wasn't helpful before, but…"

"But?"

"Even with extremely limited skills, I could still do **something**," he grumbled. "Now, I can barely walk."

"You still have this, though, don't you?" Tomo asked, tapping his own temple. "Was always your best weapon, anyway."

* * *

Tomo stretched his wings wide, the hot summer wind whipping around on the roof of the apartment building. He had half a mind to jump off and glide over the city a little, but he knew he needed to not strain himself before tomorrow.

An angry, purple spinning miasma floated in an oval a few centimeters off the ground. Tomo tapped it; it was solid to him. Ienzo did the same, and his hand didn't go through either.

"Are fairies blocked from traveling the corridors?" Tomo asked, feeling a bit less alone.

"No, I think it's just closed," Ienzo said, ticking away on his phone. "They said they've just finished breakfast, give them a moment."

"Who?"

The portal began to swirl angrily, as two figures stepped forward.

"N- Naminé!" Tomo cried. "You're… you're okay!"

Naminé nearly skipped as she threw herself into Tomo's arms.

* * *

"We can't stay long, mind," Vexen warned, mussing Tomo's hair, looking a bit pleased. "Naminé is helping someone on that side fix their memory and I've been helping the town fix their homes. There's a lot of shattered glass. How have you been, Riku?"

"I… have my own name now," Tomo admitted.

"Well, don't hold back then. What is it?"

"Tomo… I mean, you made me, so if you don't…"

"Do **you** like it, Tomo?" Vexen asked, pointedly.

"Well…"

Naminé squeezed his hand. "We'll come up with something else, if not."

"I… like it. It means 'friend' in this world's language."

"That's really sweet," Naminé said with a smile. "I'm glad we could pop by."

Tomo blushed.

"We should… probably get going," Vexen said, sternly. We have our own work to take care of. We will see you when you're done with this 'being dead', business, no?"

"See you soon, Vexen," Ienzo said, from under his camouflage.

"Ienzo? Are you there? Please don't tell me you- oh, my."

Ienzo peeked off the fabric, sheepishly.

"What happened to you? This isn't permanent, is it?" Vexen asked, kneeling. "You look… well. I'll keep my comments to myself," he added, pushing back the strands of hair covering Ienzo's left eye.

"I think it's cute," Naminé giggled. "I bet you can run really fast."

"I have two left feet!"

"**Hooves**, my boy," Vexen replied, barely containing laughter.

"Yes, it's temporary, thank.. Well, thank whoever. It's because we went through the Destiny Islands portal. Fairy city, so…" he spread his arms, gesturing to himself. "Fairy transformation. Blame Aqua. You should see Demyx, er, Myde."

"Ah, that's right, a woman with us named Mary was looking for him."

"Oh, yes, and you'll never guess, she and he-" Ienzo started excitedly, chattering on to his father-slash-mentor about the heart regrowth he'd witnessed. Vexen glanced at his watch, before taking it off and shoving it in a pocket. The two trotted over to the far side of the roof to catch up, giving Tomo and Naminé a minute alone.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," she whispered to him.

"I… am still kind of lost, though."

"For… being dead… you don't seem any different," she admitted. Gently, he grabbed one of her hands and guided it to where a wing was. She didn't seem phased at all, despire everyone elses' complaints of a chill.

"Oh, right, Vexen's power is ice, isn't it?"

"Mhmm, guess I'm just used to the cold. Want to see what I'm not so used to, though?" she asked, with a conspiratorial whisper, before flicking her fingers and pulling forth Drawing Blanks.

Tomo blushed.

"You… don't seem surprised."

"I… well…" Tomo admitted, drawing Sketchbook Memories. "Mine's pretty similar, is all."

Naminé blused even brigher. "You… you have one too. Did Mary bequeath you too?"

"M-Mary? The lady who looks like she'll bite your head off for not cleaning up after dinner?"

Naminé giggled loudly. "Sounds like her."

"No… I barely know her. Riku… the real Riku…"

"You're just as real as I am, Tomo," she said, cutting him off. "The **other **Riku is fine, or just Riku, if you really do wish to go by Tomo."

"I… yeah. Riku gave me mine. I was thinking of you, and… well. The keychain's a little sketchbook, too. Just like yours."

"You know… Mary asked me to be her apprentice when this was over. She looks like she'll be…"

"Strict?" Tomo finished for her.

"Maybe it'll be easier with a second apprentice?"

"You can't go around offering someone an apprenticeship under someone else!"

"She did mention a school," Naminé said with a small smile. "But we really should get back. I have work to do. I'll see you soon, yes?"

"Naminé, I don't want to leave this portal just sitting open," Vexen chided, from across the roof. "We've finished catching up, and I suggest you do the same."

Naminé leaned forward, pecked a tiny kiss on Tomo's forehead, and ran towards the portal.

"I'll sketch for you in there when you're alive again!" she cried quickly to him.

Tomo gently touched the spot as Vexen smirked at him, before entering the portal himself in a flourish. A moment later, it stilled, back to inactivity.

* * *

"Dear, are you comfortable?"

"I ssssstill feel weird."

"Weird because you're a meter-high imp that belches fire, or weird because of your heart?" Mary asked Myde with a small smile, gently scratching his heated scales.

"Can I ssssay a little column A, a little column B, and oh, Luxxxx, I misssssed thisss. It… it'ssss like the lassst couple centuriessss didn't happen. Feelssss a bit like a dream." Demyx placed a clawed hand on Mary's knee, leaning into the warm affection.

"We are flop-housing in an angelic residence, **planning a coup**. I'd lean a bit more towards nightmare."

Demyx laughed, covering his mouth with a hand so as to not accidentally set the shoji screens on fire with some errant embers. "Not if you're here."

He stood up to be eye level with her, and mussed up her hair, hanging in loose strands down, now that she'd bathed and was ready for a night's rest. She pulled him in for another tight hug. "You were always so slippery, now you're just warm."

"Oh, wait 'till we're home, I'm sssstill… wait. Mary. Mary. Are we… powerlesssss? I don't feel any darknessss in me."

"You were darkness-aligned as a Nobody?" She asked, worriedly. "I was not."

"Maybe it was Xxxxehanort'ssss influencccce. Probably wassss, the basssstard. I don't think I ussssed to be."

"Unlike Heartless, nobodies are not inherently aligned to darkness or light, so… who knows?" she asked. "I can feel my light just fine, hang on."

She let go of him, and flicked her Keyblade to her. It came without any effort. "No loss of power."

"Lea didn't losssse hissss either when he became human… but Rudol lost hissss Nobody powers but regained hissss Keyblade, didn't he?" Myde thought aloud. "Well, here goessss nothing, I guesssss…"

Myde inhaled and closed his eyes. When was the last time he'd called for the light, anyway? Was it a decade ago, before Xehanort? Or centuries, before losing his heart?

"Dear," Mary said calmly.

When had he last searched for the strands of golden magic instead of the sickly purple-

"**DEAR**."

"Huh?"

"Open your eyes."

Myde did, as he twitched his empty fingers.

"Down, Myde," Mary said, primly.

A golden Keyblade, with deep blue accents and three strings looked down at him. It was an exact replica of Mary's (or more accurately, Mary's was a replica of his own), with the colors inverted.

"**Tuned Forever**," he whispered, reverently, grabbing for it, to pull to his chest. "There'ssss no posssssible way you find me worthy. Issss there?"

"She wouldn't be here if you weren't," Mary reminded him.

"I think sssshe jussssst wanted to ssssee her boyfriend," Myde nudged, looking at Forever-In-Tune.

"Isn't that reason enough to be worthy?"

* * *

"Ugh, I can't get enough of you two," Lea beamed, flinging Roxas and Xion around in nightgowns that were most definitely a pair of Gabriel's oversized shirts, one conveniently with slashes in the back for wings. "I could bowl you guys."

"Axelllllll…" they whined in unison.

"We all need bed," Isa insisted, sternly, snaking an arm around Lea. "We've got a big day being bait tomorrow."

"Isa! No PDA in front of the kids," Lea chided, the more mature one for a hot second.

"We're not kidsssss," Roxas whined, getting a noogie for his trouble.

"What's PDA?" Xion asked, inquisitively.

"What Dem-**Myde**, and his girlfriend were doing in the back corner for the entirety of Joshua's speech," Roxas explained.

"You could say kissing," Xion pouted, "And whatever he was doing to her neck."

"**Hickies**," Roxas said, grinning, showing off some surprisingly pointy teeth.

Isa rolled his eyes so loudly, Roxas and Lea were momentarily worried they'd jump from his sockets. "Ah, to be young again. Seriously, though, bed, and that means all of us."

Lea grinned mischievously. "Yeah? Well, if they're little kids, doesn't that mean a bedtime story? Rox, Xion, what did you guys do on your world? I overheard something about Roxas turning into a doll?"

Xion bubbled up excitedly. "He was **orange**! And… the world's physics were a bit weird, like… you couldn't curse. Every time…"

Lea jostled his two faux fairies to secure his grip, carrying them back to an empty space as they chattered. Isa smiled, and hurried behind, too amused to remind Lea that children were supposed to be receiving a story, not telling one.

* * *

Ventus blinked the crust from his eyes, and sat up. Terra, twice his and Aqua's size, was curled protectively around them both, his soft black scales faintly warm and scented of charcoal. Ventus wiggled a little to scoot out, met with a grunt.

"Just getting water," Ventus hissed. Terra huffed and rolled over, pulling Aqua towards him like she were a plush toy.

Ventus shook himself out and carefully slid the screen that acted as divider.

A Flood stared blankly at him. It must have been sitting just outside their door, and could have easily shredded the wood and paper if it wanted to. Was it… standing guard?

With Ventus at three feet tall, the beast cave up to his chest. He'd seen giant Floods before, on the Keyblade Graveyard when they had cornered Xehanort over a decade ago. This one was just jittering slightly, before it put its forelegs up on Ventus's shoulders. Even then, it's head was bowed, and mouth closed.

"You want… pets," Ventus whispered at it, surprised. Slowly, he pulled his hand out and stroked the top of its head between the antennae.

**Soft**.

Terra had touched it earlier that day (yesterday? It was probably after midnight) so, once the thing tumbled under him, Ventus got more aggressive, using both hands to scratch under its chin and antennae.

"Who's doing that?" a voice growled. "Can't sleep in peace."

Ventus stopped immediately, as another door slid open and a pair of red eyes peeked out.

"V-vanitas!" Ventus panicked.

Vanitas rubbed an eye. "I'm going to assume that's Ventus. Roxas would have drawn a keyblade on me."

Ventus blushed dark green. "Yeah."

Vanitas scooted out, remaining seated. He could imagine that Ven found him scary enough as it was, but being almost twice his height probably wouldn't do him favors. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Ventus actually jumped a step back and Vanitas turned his head diagonally downwards, scratching at the back of his neck.

"S-Sorry." Both had apologized simultaneously.

"Why are **you** apologizing?" Ventus asked him.

Vanitas bore his teeth. "What. Are you asking because you don't think I **should **or because you didn't think I **could**?"

Vanitas didn't answer.

"A decade crammed inside Sora changes your perspective a little," Vanitas offered.

"I… don't remember much of anything."

"You were damaged a lot more than I was, Aurora. You were sleeping most of it off."

Flood bounded up to Vanitas and scurried up his shoulder, nuzzling him.

"Yeah, but…" Ventus struggled, trying to reconcile. "When we fought in the Badlands you were still… kinda mean."

"I was biding my time. Waiting for an escape," Vanitas admitted. "Xehanort had his tendrils in me, too."

"Your eyes were yellow, like Terra," Ventus acknowledged.

"Yeah, he didn't dig nearly as deep though. I still did a lot of things of my own will. Or maybe I didn't. It's hard to say. But I realized the only way out… was for you to end it. I can't say I was wrong."

"I'm… sorry I killed you, Vanitas."

"**You**? Sora struck the final blow. And I'm grateful."

Ventus smiled. "Like Ienzo."

"Guess so. Sometimes doing a mean hard thing is the best thing you can," Vanitas replied, rubbing one of the spots where a scar used to be. "Rip off the bandage, as it were."

"You're actually pretty nice, when you're not trying to tear out my throat."

"I still have our memories. I'm you, just less goody-two-shoes," Vanitas reminded him, flipping backwards onto the tatami. "I'm you if you were cool."

"You can keep believing that," Ventus snorted. "What are you going to do when you come back to life, though? You could stay with us."

"Hard pass. Sora offered too, you know."

"Don't want to be near Aqua, huh?"

"I don't want to be in the same star system as her, if I can avoid it."

"She's not that bad. Just strict."

"Had enough of that for a lifetime, and I mean that literally."

"You do… need a break, Vanitas."

"Yeah. Too much shit to sort out. I'm going back to bed."

"Hey, Vanitas?"

"What."

"I think your Flood was guarding our door."

Vanitas sat up and shrugged. "I'm not his mom."

"You kinda are."

"Well, I'm not a mind reader. It does what it wants. If it wants to watch your door, that's not on me."

Vanitas scooted back with Flood in his own space and slid the shoji back. A moment later, the Flood slid the door aside and sat in front of Ventus.

"Are you… apologizing?" Ventus asked it. It responded by shoving its head under Ventus's chin.

"I'll… take that as a yes," he mumbled aloud, wrapping arms around it, stroking its fur.

"Thanks, Vanitas."

* * *

"You're up early."

"Unlike most of our off-world friends, I went straight to bed when I got back last night. I needed… I needed some time to think. You actually get some sleep, oh mighty god?" Neku cocked an eyebrow at Joshua.

"A solid three hours, got up an hour ago. Actually impressed with myself. Gabe already made goggles with my and her coins, try it out."

Joshua tossed the pair of goggles to Neku, who fumbled with them a moment before righting them and putting them on.

"Your feathers are a mess."

Joshua folded up his wings high on his back, slightly affronted at the comment. "Well, excuse me. Gabe and Uriel are both crashing now before breakfast and I just got in from a quick flyover."

"I'll fix them."

"And ask me something really deep while you do, so you're overwhelmed with my soul, got it."

"Overwhelmed, maybe, but you can't harm me unless I allow it."

Joshua sighed, and loosened his shoulders a little. "Touché. Let me get a spray bottle."

* * *

"This is absolutely rancid. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"Whatever do you mean, Neku? It's my own proprietary blend of feather oil. Don't need much, just wherever's dry."

"Yeah, well this smells like crap that was left at the bottom of the fryer too long. I'll just grab a clothespin or something."

"Ugh, fine," Joshua whined, grabbing and shaking the bottle a little. It didn't smell good, not like cologne or a perfume, but it no longer smelled like it was ten years past the expiration date. "At least I know 'extremely minor inconvenience' doesn't affect your anti-God powers."

Neku replied maturely, by blowing a raspberry right next to Joshua's ear, and set to work.

"So? Out with it. You've got me captive, Neku."

"Do you think you'll win?"

"I think… well, you and the other living people should be fine, Coco's neither suicidal nor an idiot. She would have gone on a murder spree already if she had care blanche permission to do what she wanted. The fact she hasn't is in our favor. It's the only thing."

"You didn't answer my question," Neku said dryly, quietly.

"I… I don't know. And if we lose, we'll have succeeded only in making Shinjuku into hell. Coco'll get emboldened if she wins. Riku will die, permanently, and any of my own Reapers would too. She'll definitely use it as an excuse to consolidate power. We are directly going against the Upper Management by declaring war on her. Lose, and I'll fare worse than Hanekoma. The best I could hope for is being demoted into a Reaper anywhere in the city other than Shinjuku. I'm not sure if the worst case scenario is complete Erasure or working under her. I've done everything I possibly could, Neku, and I'm genuinely scared it's not enough. And I don't just mean for my sake. Whoever they'd put in my place here… well. We'd lose our Composer **and **Conductor. And we don't have a Producer. Shibuya could sink, every Reaper and Player in it, and all."

Joshua hissed as Neku twisted, pulling out a giant broken feather, almost as big as his humerus. "Careful. The big ones need to be imped, not pulled."

"Imped?"

"You stick a skewer up the shaft and glue a new tip on. I have spares I keep from my last molt to cut from."

"Oh."

"It's fine. I can imagine up a replacement with enough focus. Just don't pull out another primary, please."

"Y-Yeah."

"So, I've bared all," Joshua said, fluffing his feathers to lightly smack Neku in the face. "Your turn. Something is bothering you, clearly. Out with it, dear."

"Can't 'kill a person' be enough to bother me?"

"Coco's been dead for years."

"Ending her existence then."

"We're **cornering **her. Hopefully, if this **does** work, the justice system will sort it out. She'll get a fair trial, at the very least. If they demoted and plucked Hanekoma, they're not going to Erase her."

"What about the person sacrificed for -**ahem**\- cornering her?"

"I trust Uriel to do the right thing. Hell, she's why I'm doing this in the first place. She's hurting, Neku, and I'm going to help. Even if it ruins me. I think you of all people know how that feels."

Neku sighed, leaned forward, and buried himself in a soft nest of Joshua's freshly cleaned wings.

"Yeah. I do."

* * *

Riku woke up in a nest of limbs- soft skin and harsh metallic wings, and balled up thin blankets. Kairi was nestled under his chin, while Sora's wing draped sharply over his side, his smaller frame slotted between Riku's own wingblades.

"Bathroom," he grunted, rolling, to get out from between them. Sora, half unconscious, reached for the next thing, Kairi, and pulled her close.

"Warm," he muttered, and promptly fell back into deep slumber, face in Kairi's hair.

Riku pushed open the screen, snuck downstairs, passing Joshua and Neku.

"No rest for the wicked," Riku joked.

"Coffee?" Joshua offered, waving a hand toward a carafe. He was busy cooking… something. Whatever it was, it smelled good. "You going out with someone? I'm making some special stuff that'll augment our magic but we're going to need way more than what I can whip up in an hour."

"I just… wanted to go on the roof a bit. I could run an errand after, if you needed."

Neku tossed him a key.

"When you're done I'll head out with you," he suggested. "I can't fight the Noise anymore but, with these goggles I could partner with you until we can break for it."

"Thanks, I could use some air," Riku said with a half wave, as he left for the roof.

* * *

"Your highness."

"A-ha! Riku. It's six in the morning, why are you up?"

"Always been an early riser," Riku said with a shrug, going to join Mickey and Goofy on the roof. At least, he **thought **it was Goofy. Terra might have wanted to-

"A-hyuck, it took me 'n Donald a full hour to get Sora up sometimes."

Yep, Goofy.

"You feelin' alright, Riku? I mean… aside from…"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you guys? How's Donald?"

"Aw… he'll be awrlright. Ansem's got him in one of his decontamination thingies."

"That's… good," Riku said, leaning on the railing. Mickey gently put a hand on his shoulder. "Everything'll work out, you'll see."

"Says the bait."

"Exactly! You'll stick around for me while I play this game thing, right?"

"You'll be assigned to Shinjuku, not here, if you really are…"

"Weren't you? I think I got the gist of all this crazy business. And I though Xehanort splitting into thirteen bits of himself was hard to follow but…"

Riku looked down at his bandage-wrapped hand. "I was technically assigned to Shinjuku, yeah. I guess I'd be under Uriel if this did work."

"So, I've got a guardian angel on my side, then, yeah?"

Riku laughed. Mickey always seemed to know exactly what and how to say it. "Okay, you know what? If this all works, and Shinjuku's back in Uriel's hands, and my timer stops, I'll stay dead one extra week to make sure you get to cheat in Shinjuku. You or Kairi, or Lea, or Isa."

He squeezed Mickey's hand on his shoulder. "We'll all go back together."

"Ya got one thing wrong, Riku," Goofy chided. "It's not **if**. It's **when**."

"**When**," Riku repeated.

"Goofy's right, Riku," Mickey said, looking out over the city bathed in pink morning hues. "**When**."


	38. morning march

Sora detangled himself from Kairi, and rolled upright. A pair of coins clinked as they bounced off his face, spinning lazily on the tatami mat to his side. With a roll of his shoulders he scooped them up, along with another pair that had settled up against the screen.

Riku's, most likely.

Sora followed his nose downwards to the second floor, where Joshua was levitating platters of food. Riku followed with bags from both FamilyMart and Lawson's.

Given the number of people there, he probably cleaned out one of the stocks.

Joshua sat quietly, stretching his wings out, elbows on his knees, and exhaled a breath he really didn't need.

Sora didn't need to ask if he was okay. It was obvious he wasn't.

Neku came up next with a tray of pitchers, placing them on the lazy Susan at the table's center before sitting next to Joshua, pulling the pair of goggles around his neck up on his face. Wordlessly, he began combing through the angel's feathers.

"I hate you," Joshua muttered.

"Likewise."

"I should change."

"In a few minutes."

Joshua sighed, but curled up, giving Neku better access to his downy scapulars.

"Birdie wants pets?" Neku grinned, scratching the area where the two sets of shoulders met.

"I'm a **dragon**, not a bird. Fuck off."

Sora wasn't sure if those words had ever been said so joyfully, yet there they were.

* * *

"What the?"

Lea pulled the tossed package towards him, peeking inside. "I thought we were wearing the stuff from last night?"

"Yeah," Gabriel said, sticking her fork out at him. "When we march to Shinjuku, sure. We still have pins to give out today."

"The mind controlling ones," Lea said, irritably. "What does this have to do with an Organization coat? They block darkness, not mind control."

Vanitas rolled his eyes and grabbed for a seaweed filled onigiri. "We're going to hand out the pins. I guess Madam Obsessed With Our Personal Lives wants you to join us."

"Isa, Kairi, and Rudol, too," Gabriel said, passing more costumes down. "You're game characters in this world, so…"

"I want to help," Ventus insisted.

"Not looking like a sprite you're not," Holly reminded him. "When the march starts, sure, but show yourself before then and Head Office is going to have a fit. They'll have a fit regardless but… ugh. I still can't believe I agreed to this."

"You're not the one who's dying today," Lea said, pointing with his chopsticks, nearly poking Xion in the eye.

Roxas elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ouch, **fine**. I deserved that."

* * *

Vanitas pulled at his collar, the same as the day before. The neoprene bodysuit was less and less appealing now that he was getting used to actual clothing.

He scowled into Neku's phone's front facing camera. The gesture didn't feel so natural now. Gabriel nodded, and, with a deep inhale to steel himself, allowed her to put a hand to his chin to steady his head and insert golden contacts.

"It's just a costume now," Joshua reminded him quietly as he passed by.

Vanitas sighed out and snarled, getting into character. It wasn't him. Not anymore.

* * *

Vanitas almost peeled with laughter at Isa, and any worry he had for himself had melted.

"I forgot how stupid your ears looked when you were possessed."

Holly and Foaly looked at Isa with curiosity.

"Was the person who possessed you, perhaps, a fairy?" Foaly asked. "Pardon the curiosity but-"

"It's in the past, it's fine."

Xion was still clinging to Lea, nonetheless. Both the former Radiant Garden residents looked sidelong at each other, unsure of how to handle her. Lea dressed in his old Organization garb wasn't a problem, but Isa, especially with gold contacts and rubber ear tips, certainly was.

Vanitas knelt to be at her eye level and steadied his own breath. "Xion, it's… it's just a costume."

Xion clung to her rock harder.

"Look at me, then," Vanitas commanded, hoping she'd remembered her time recovering in Sora.

She poked her head out from the folds of his coat.

"**You**."

"Me."

Aqua nearly growled. "You knew her from before. What did you do to her you-"

Aqua bit her own tongue as Xion let go of Lea's leg and scrambled to Vanitas, nearly knocking him over. He braced for impact as she pulled him into as much a hug as her now-tiny arms could manage, and began to bawl loudly.

"What the-" Roxas hissed, quickly shushed by Isa and Lea both.

"I thought you were a dream, someone I imagined," Xion admitted between sobs. "I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

"I never told you my name, then," Vanitas gruffed, putting his chin on her head and allowing her to hang on through his own clenched teeth.

"You were… **you **were the presence in the back of Sora's mind…" Roxas whispered out. Vanitas nodded and gave Isa and Lea both a look over Xion's head buried in his chest.

Aqua softened, staring at the pair. "Well."

Terra just gave something that could have been a sneer but Vanitas knew better. It was just his reptilian mouth unable to form a smile.

Slowly, Vanitas pulled Xion closer, circling his arms until they formed a protective hug around her.

"Just a costume."

"Yeah."

* * *

The group that would soon be handing the rest of the imprint pins stood awkwardly in the sigil right by the train station. Komaeda adjusted their Square Enix polo, and Uriel rolled her shoulders. Gabriel tilted her head back and forth, looking at her temporary new reflection from her cameraphone.

"You're creeping me out, angel," Lea muttered.

"Sorry," she said, shrugging, in a voice that made him wince. "Roxas is popular. It's just for an hour. Stand with Kairi if it makes you feel better. I can stay with Vanitas and Tomo."

* * *

An hour later, and the group huddled back in the protective cover of the sigil, bags emptied and sweating.

Especially the poor three in organization coats.

"Leather plus direct hot sunlight…" Lea whined. "I'm going to need three showers. Kairi, next time, I dress as **you**."

She cocked her head side to side. "You've got the body to pull it off, pretty boy."

Isa rolled his eyes and peeled off gloves, tying his hair up to get it off his boiling neck. "You'll have to wait in line, Lea. I'm pulling rank and showering first."

* * *

Gabriel didn't even land, just let go of Isa an inch or so off the concrete of the roof of their apartment complex, circling overhead only long enough to yell instructions. "Shower, change, make it quick, I have more people to ferry."

Isa nodded, peeling the heavy coat off as he ran down to the elevator, not even bothering to see Komaeda, Uriel, and Joshua deposit their own stowaways and swoop back for the second round.

* * *

"Oh wooooow!" Roxas and Xion crooned in unison. Lea did a quarter turn and tipped his hat.

"Honestly, if I didn't know better, this feels like home," Isa said, adjusting his own ruffled cravat.

"Right, that does look a lot like Radiant Garden clothing, doesn't it?" Xion asked. "First time I saw Ansem's guard's uniforms, I laughed."

"Well, it's more the upper crust or formal event type thing," Lea shrugged, as he adjusted his waist and tailcoats. "Commonfolk, even when we were kids, wore stuff like they do in Twilight Town. But Isa and I were castle guards, so we had those stupid uniforms too."

"Only to sneak in."

"Well, that's not a lie. We did get hired."

"For **kitchen duty**."

"Potato, potahhhhto," Lea grinned as Isa adjusted his collar for him and the pair of temporary fairies giggled.

"Yes, there was copious amounts of potato peeling." Both of them groaned.

Lea sighed. "Ready to die, Isa?"

Isa slung an arm around Lea's waist, lifting Roxas to a shoulder with a free hand. "No, but I'm not about to let Riku go down, either. I'll take the temporary inconvenience."

"It'd better be temporary," Roxas growled through gritted teeth. "I only just started tolerating you."

* * *

"Joshua, sit still or I swear to God I will stop time to do this," Uriel demanded, pushing his nose with a closed mascara bottle. He gave her one of his patented half awkward smile-smirks before realizing his eyelids felt a bit heavier. And kind of sticky.

"Bastard."

"Well, aren't we all? I didn't come up from the living like that coffee friend of yours," she replied, shoving a mirror in his face to show him she'd already finished.

"Save your power for the fight." Joshua rolled his eyes, shaking out his head until his hair grew back into the long corkscrew curls from the night before. He twirled, the dress spinning a little with him as he stood.

"Don't have to. My turf."

"Still."

"I'm…" Uriel stopped, froze. "I'm not letting you die, Josh. Not-die. Don't argue. You know what I mean."

"I'm… not worried about myself, I've made my peace with that."

"When you were a fucking suicidal time bomb?" Uriel snapped, brandishing a makeup brush like a weapon. In an angel's hands, it very well could be.

Joshua's mouth hung open a few seconds. He closed it, bit his lip and tasted the wax in his lipstick. "You want me to snap back, so I don't care what happens to you. Well, fuck off, Uri, because two can play this game. I trust you. I trust your Reapers, and most of all, I've already made my peace with being an idiot. I have Neku looking out for me. Let me do the same for you."

Uriel's face hardened, tightening taut around her sharp chin. For a brief flash, Joshua could see her true form, a graffiti skeletal unicorn, bleed through her corporeal one.

Joshua returned it with a reminder of his own, a dragon's face. So brief a flash it was, no mortal would have ever noticed, and no Reaper would have either unless they knew any time magic at all. But time magic was precisely Uriel's specialty. She hissed, and loosened her shoulders a bit. "You're the boss."

"Only because we're in Shibuya right now." Joshua smiled weakly, and gave Uriel a backhanded salute. "I'll tell Gabe it's her turn to get war paint."

* * *

"Not one of you are saying anything?" Joshua asked, eyebrow raised.

"I've been wearing a skirt for years," Tomo said shrugging, holding up the hem of his long skirt, a white high collar blouse tucked in layered with a waistcoat and tie. Terra gestured to his own hakama. "Easier to fight in than tight pants, at the very least."

"I saw last night," Vanitas shrugged, messing with his own tie, before adjusting Flood's small bowtie. The Unversed chirped and jumped up on his shoulder once he was done, looking pleased with himself.

"I'm more shocked you got **Gabriel **in a dress," Riku said with a small smirk, watching Joshua go bright red. "Really, Joshua, you just wanted all eyes on you. Drama queen." Riku side-eyed Mickey, the two in matching tuxedos.

Joshua snuck around the gaggle as Uriel snapped them to attention, and whispered to Riku as he passed. "I just wanted them off you. I have your back, I swear it."

Riku sighed, and made a dramatic roll of his eyes, groaning.

He appreciated it anyway. He just didn't want to show it, or he might just break down crying. That was for after, only after, and not a moment before.

* * *

"Wait, why do I need these?" Vanitas asked, confused, as Joshua shoved a pair of goggles in his face.

"Does Coco know why people need these?" Joshua asked sternly. "And that's why you do. We're all wearing them, so she doesn't know what they're actually for. She probably would think they're to see through her fog."

"Point," Vanitas admitted, and pulled them on, adjusting them on his face as others did the same. He took an inactive pin from the bowl Gabriel held out, affixing it to his collar. He scanned the room. The Players adjusted their own Lolita attire and dug through a bowl of offered healing pins for their own preferences, while Joshua fluffed out his wings, and with a wince, twisted out feathers, golden ichor dripping from the quills. He shoved a few in Lea's interior waistcoat pocket, before moving on to Isa, smearing a bit of his own golden blood on their wrists and the backs of their necks like it were some sort of eldritch cologne. It didn't seem to leave a visible stain, and Uriel followed behind, sniffing.

"You smell like **his**," she said simply, before moving on and checking out the group.

"Don't we need wings?" Lea asked, jabbing a thumb at Vanitas. "Like them?"

Rhyme let hers out for a moment, then made them disappear just as fast. "Not having wings but feeling like something powerful will make you more a target, actually. It means you've mastered your soul well enough to hide them even from other Reapers."

"Awww," Lea said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought they looked cool."

Joshua sighed and snapped his fingers. Lea yelped and grabbed for his shoulders. "Sick!"

"I just gave you extra limbs, redhead. There's no magic in them and you can't fly. So don't try anything stupid."

"I can move them!" Lea spread them out, almost thwacking Vanitas in the eye.

"Yeah, and if you pull a muscle, I'm not wasting my breath fixing them until after it's all over. You want 'em or not?" Lea beamed, and Joshua rolled his eyes. "Your funeral."

Kairi pouted, looking between Riku, Sora, and Lea. "No fair, me too."

"Fiiiiiine," Joshua huffed, and made a pushing motion with his left hand. "Isa or Mickey? You're the only other decoys. Wings or no?"

Isa looked slyly at Lea, Xion, and Roxas, who was hovering around on his own pair of actually functional wings. "If it's no trouble."

* * *

"Last thing before we're out," Joshua said, authoritatively. "We all need to be psychically linked to the mass imprint. And by we, I mean all of us angels and reapers."

"Even us?" Tomo asked.

"Just a precaution," Joshua said, glaring straight at Tomo. "Nothing more. Somebody alive, can I borrow you for a few minutes?"

Neku rolled his eyes, stepping forward. "Me. You have permission," he added, nodding sharply.

Joshua stepped forward and attempted to put one of the imprinted pins on him. It burned, falling out of Joshua's hand onto the tatami, leaving behind blisters.

"More specific, I think," Joshua grumbled, shaking out his hand.

"I give you permission to puppet me around for a few minutes to do what you need to," Neku sighed out.

Joshua picked up the pin and easily put it on Neku's lapel, then sucked on his pointer finger until the blister disappeared with a hiss.

"Let's begin."

Neku wobbled a moment, before standing to face Joshua, face blank.

"Remember, we're controlling an army. Not one person. So manipulating individuals isn't the goal. You're sort of… **directing**." The words came from both Joshua's and Neku's mouths simultaneously and unsettlingly.

"I can do that," Vanitas said, materializing a few more Flood underfoot, as he thought of facing down Coco.

"You first then," Joshua said, extending a hand. Vanitas grasped it roughly, realizing he wasn't in one body anymore. He wasn't sure if he was ordering Neku or if he was the teen, and gulped.

"This feels super super invasive," came a chorus of voices that Vanitas realized were both his own and Neku's. "Neku gave permission… but everyone else?"

"Why do you think I hated this idea to begin with?" Joshua asked, tapping a foot and looking anywhere but up. Gabriel took one of his hands, and breathed in, taking the pressure off Vanitas.

He could still feel Neku somewhere in the background, and knew somehow he could still order him around if he wanted to. But Gabriel was leading now, and it made it feel less strong in his mind.

Quickly, she had Neku grab Tomo's wrist, and made the silver haired teen touch palms to Joshua.

"Ack!" Tomo and Neku complained. "I don't like this. At all."

"Last resort, Tomo," Joshua reminded him. "Gabe and Komaeda both have more practice with imprinting. Speaking of?"

Komaeda sighed deeply, and gave their boss's boss's boss a rough high five. Neku immediately relaxed, blinking the dead-eyed stare from his eyes. "Ugh. That's so… just ugh."

"Wait," Joshua said, confused. "Nobody broke the pin or the connection. Neku, next time specify the number of minutes!"

"Got you," Komaeda and Neku said in unison, both with identical wry smiles.

"You did," Joshua sighed out. "Sora?"

"No, no way. Sorry, I can't."

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "Riku?" he asked, not bothering to fight Sora on this.

Riku sighed and took Joshua's hand. "Thanks, Neku," he said from his own voice and Neku's. He frowned, looking at the teen's glassed-out eyes. Neku has allowed it, but they were about to do this to hundreds, possibly even thousands of strangers.

Riku was used to working with his own inner darkness, but this… this was different.

Riku closed his eyes and sighed. It wasn't for him, no, it was for the hundreds of trapped souls in Shinjuku.

"I can't rationalize this," he croaked out, finally.

"You don't have to," Joshua replied, taking Riku's hand to pull back to imprint to himself before dispersing it. Neku blinked the stars out of his eyes, slumping them to rub them out.

"Bleh," he complained, shaking out his head. "**Salt**." Neku looked up at the group. "What? Did I start chanting in tongues or something?"

Riku stifled a huff. "No, still creepy though."

"I was a ghost for a couple weeks. Think I can do creepy," he replied with a shrug. "Everything work out as it should?" he asked Joshua.

"Yeah, think we're ready."

Neku wobbled upright and stretched out. "Okay, let's go get her."

* * *

The mismatched group stood at the doorway of the apartment complex, a mix of gothic Lolita Players, Angels, and Reapers (and false Reapers) a few humans in normal clothing, and fairies, huddled under cam-foil or, in Holly's case, buzzing lightly within her natural shield.

"Hey, suits," Gabriel said, smiling gently, as she pointed to a news van somehow parked across the street with a stern looking reporter stamping out a cigarette by the driver's seat, leaning against the car door. "Your chariot awaits. Don't worry, the driver's a friend. So if there happens to be some equines hidden back there," she added, trailing, "I don't think he'd mind."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Butler? Foaly? Ienzo? We've got work to do."

The group listened to the sound of expensive shoes on marble tile, as well as the echo of hooves that clearly weren't there.

"Humans and fairies? You're all going to be -ahem- possessed soon. Walk straight, don't talk, and try to blend with the crowd."

"Yes, yes," came Holly's voice from thin air. "Can do."

"You got it," Beat agreed.

"You don't have much brains to not be a zombie," Neku said under his breath.

"Whatchu say, Phones?"

"Said I know you'll be a good actor. Don't blow your cover."

"'S what I thoughtchu said."

"Dead- of the mostly, completely or piss poor faking it- variety? You know your jobs."

Joshua flicked a curl out of his face and took over, tapping the pin on his bodice. "The deed's dome, people. Zombies have invaded Shibuya. It's time to march."

* * *

"This ain't half bad," Foaly said, sitting comfortably in the back of the news van watching the bank of monitors while snacking on some shrimp chips provided by the completely unfazed driver. "New lease on life" was all the man had grumbled to them before he started his engine, but it was enough to piece together that a pair of centaurs in the rear of his vehicle were hardly a strange sight to him. "Air conditioning, sustainably sourced snacks, and all the cameras I could want. Though I miss my own tools."

"Yes, well," Artemis said, propping open a laptop he'd stowed with him, plugging things into other things like someone who very much knew what they were doing, "I'm sure you smuggled in a few choice pieces."

"You know me too well," Foaly grinned. "'Course I did, I'm not daft."

Ienzo smiled a little as the truck began to move, pulling some small items from his pockets he'd grabbed from the lab before heading to Haven. Intelligence, this he could handle.

* * *

"Fairies need to spread out," Holly whispered to the air where she assumed Roxas and Xion were hiding; the fact that there was a completely empty spot next to Isa and Lea was little surprise. "We have to look like we're more mindless possessed creatures in the crowd. Once you're split off, ditch the cam-foil."

"No," came a male voice from nowhere. "We're-"

"You are going to move elsewhere in the crowd. Isa or Lea have a very high chance of being hurt, and we have to let that happen. You stay too close to someone, you're going to try and protect them when you can't, or worse, when you shouldn't be."

"Speaking from experience," Isa hissed, walking forward and bumping into something invisible. The crowd was a mass of hundreds and growing by the minute, slowly shuffling northward towards Yoyogi Park to Shinjuku beyond.

"I'm a soldier."

Lea turned his head sideways as they all contined to get pushed forward by the crowd. "We'll be here when it's over, kiddos. Even if it's our spirits, and right now, you can see 'em like that. I promise, we'll all go home together, it'll just be an extra week. It's not like you two are against slacking off from your new school, right?"

Xion chuckled from the empty space. "I've got bits of Sora's memories, being in middle school is so boring. We should be bumped up a grade."

"You need social skills," Isa reprimanded. "**Scoot**. We'll be just fine. Whoever gets killed has to buy everyone sea salt ice cream for a month when we get back."

"Deal," Roxas hissed. "We'll move."

* * *

"Fuck!" The reporter hissed loudly, as his cell phone blared. "What is it, Uzu? I'm on the beat with a van going past Harajuku station right now."

"You're filming the flash mob?" came a dry woman's voice. The cab of the van fell silent so as not to give themselves up over the call.

"Yep," the reporter replied. "Goin' slow as I can, it's like a zombie movie out here. Minus blood. None of 'em are listening to… holy shit, Uzu. There's some green flying thing floating over someone's head."

"I'm assuming you're not hallucinating. Live feed, Toshi. Now."

The driver, Toshi, flicked his head back to the cab, and gestured at the four squashed at the console in the back. Well, the giant brute was squashed. The two centaurs and the kid seemed fine with the seating arrangements.

Foaly pointed at the console, then his own self in silence. Toshi nodded, and the older fairy made quick work of patching the feed through back to the news station.

"Holy fuck, Toshi. That's some kinda… it's not a kappa is it?"

"Those are the bowl-on-the-head guys," Toshi groaned. "And don't ask me more than that, 's' only because my kid likes Yokai Watch. No, this green bugger is flying, and carrying some sort of… I think it's a key?"

"Klefki!" the woman shouted on the phone, startling Toshi into a swerve. "The Pokémon. The fairy possessed key thing?"

"That don't look like no Pokémon, Uzu. That's real, I'm sure of it. There's another one flying… but that seems more like a jetpack. Looks like… size of a little girl, face of an adult."

"Disneyland reject? Chiba's over an hour by bus though, and all these people are completely ruining traffic."

In the back of the cab, Foaly was doing his damndest to try and stifle a laugh at their awful descriptions of Roxas and Holly.

"Toshi, do me a solid. You're heading northbound, right?"

"'S looks like," he grumbled, fumbling for another cigarette in his coat pocket, before Foaly made a show of loosening the wire connections while glaring at him in the rearview mirror. Toshi bowed his head and shoved the offending roll back in his pocket. Smoke later, when the irate fairy who was patching in your possible future promotion wasn't in the cab.

"We've lost contact with a van in Shinjuku."

"You… what? How?"

"One moment we had feed, then next, dead. We called around, seems like… there's something wrong, Toshi. Power's just dead; and I don't mean the electricity. People are taking phone videos. Step forward where the district changes over, and your phone just… dies. No electricity, no cell, no nothing. People are running people out of hospitals and clinics down to Shibuya or up to Toshima on foot. On **foot**. And that's where this mob is heading, ain't it? I'm no religious type, but I can smell foul play from three wards out, Toshi, and if you roll into Shinjuku, your van might just straight up die."

* * *

"No lights, no power, no service, no visibility," Joshua hissed, leading the mass of borrowed people towards the end of one district and the head of another. He took a moment to steel himself before the mindless mob pushed him forward in their sheer mass.

"No turning back."


	39. fog of war

_**so... uh... guess who was hospitalized three times? hint- me. it was me. i wanted this done before re:mind but eh. it's almost there, folks. i should have the last of this up by mid-feb. in the interum, i wrote some good omens fic if you're into that sort of thing while i was in a bit of a funk.**_

_**i'm mostly okay now, but i still have the dregs of a horrible whooping cough and its hard to sleep.**_

_**thanks for your patience.**_

* * *

The mass pressed forward, unrelenting, as the barrier buckled. Joshua and Uriel blessed the crowd as they shoved their way through, and Vanitas winced.

"Ow, that stung," he grumbled, before noticing everyone- humans and dead alike- had a timer on their foreheads; the 'you-can-leave-the-district' mark had been stamped on everyone.

At least it didn't give away their decoys.

"I'm right here," a voice said, sternly, out of his range.

Neku. Neku was walking near him.

"Right. You can see."

"Do you want a hand?"

"I'm assuming you mean literally. Yeah. Sure." Vanitas felt Neku grab his left elbow, pulling him along. He winced momentarily, but forced down the distaste for now. He had to rely on the living.

"Noise!" Neku hissed. "Big. Five paces forward. You want to fight it or no?"

"How 'bout it, Flood?"

Flood, gripping his forehead, chittered loudly.

"I can't fight with you, but I think he can," Neku said, as Vanitas was shoved a step forward.

* * *

Vanitas flopped unceremoniously into the Noise space. He stopped, blinked, and quickly realized he had no problem seeing; the street was completely devoid of the human wall pushing northward, but not for lack of visibility. Coco's influence didn't reach these pocket spaces, it seemed, and for that, Vanitas was grateful.

"Holy… what is this?" squawked a very familiar voice.

"This is Noise," Vanitas said with a smirk. "Think Heartless, but nastier." It didn't matter if he was talking to Roxas or Ventus; both of them had keyblades and magic, and both were currently flying green annoyances.

Vanitas winced as something invisible stabbed his left arm. "You get hit?"

"Yeah, this thing's too fast. How's you know?"

"We're linked. Hang on, there's nothing on my side so I'm coming over. Flood, stand guard. Squeak if you need me back."

Before Flood could agree, Vanitas slid himself into the duplicate pocket space holding what he now could confirm was Ventus. His pauldron was a dead giveaway.

Ventus cartwheeled out of the way of a massive spiked tentacle as Vanitas took stock of the black, pooling monstrosity before them.

That was new. Definitely not a Noise type he'd seen before, though he'd only been dealing with the things less than a week. It almost looked halfway between Noise and Heartless, if he squinted.

Vanitas cracked his knuckles and pulled his new Keyblade from the ether, leaving Ventus to stare and gape at it for a moment.

"The missing piece!" he cried, as the gargantuan Noise flung a giant ball of ink from a not-before noticed orifice, sending Ventus cartwheeling right against the solid wall edge of the pocket space.

"Look later, fight now," Vanitas growled as he charged for the isopod.

* * *

Riku almost twisted Kairi's arm as the zombie-esque mass pushed ever forward.

"Can't see," he hissed at her. "Guide us, but act like you can't ei-" he began suggesting as Kairi twisted her ankle in a piece of broken concrete sending the trio tumbling forward. The only reason they didn't fall was thanks to the human shield around them.

"That'll work," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry!" Kairi said with a wince. "Didn't mean to do that."

"Really, no worries," Sora said, smiling gently. "Just keep us moving forward."

"There's this weird floating symbol. That's the Noise stuff right?"

"Yeah," Riku grunted. "Steer us around it if you can." Riku hesitated before continuing. "You're bait for Coco."

"And Ventus just flew in it, anyway. Now it's pulsing."

"He'll be fine. Coco isn't going to kill a fairy," Riku acknowledged. "I hope, at least."

"We have to trust Joshua's judgement. If she could kill the living… she'd have already done it, right? Right?" Sora was trying to convince himself as much as his friends. Through a laced glove, Kairi squeezed his hand.

"Trust. And let's move forward."

* * *

"Fuuuuuuuuuuck!"

"Vanitas! Language!"

"I don't fucking care," Vanitas hollered, dodging sideways. "The only other person who can hear us is Flood."

"Flood is a person?" Ventus asked, panting, as he dodged a swipe of one of the massive oozing tentacles.

"Well, he's more a cast off piece of me, it's kind of hard to- ugh!"

Vanitas took a tentacle Sean straight to the chest, flinging him right into the barrier at the edge of the pocket dimension, snapping something and kicking the wind out of him. His left arm was dead.

With his right, he pulled out one of the curative drinks from a pouch in his jodhpurs, ripping the cap off with his teeth and downing it.

He screamed as the bone reset, but he had feeling in his arm again it felt a bit like the way Xe- the way **he **used to heal Vanitas, but right now he was too focused on fighting to really process it beyond pain. He tossed the bottle aside, shattering the glass, giving his wings a good flap to help right himself.

Vanitas doubled over again, and so did Ventus, both surpassingly winded as Vanitas heard a familiar shriek.

"TOUCH FLOOD AND I MURDER YOU," he roared.

"Va… Vanitas?"

"Aqua!" Ventus piped up. "You're on the other side?!"

"Where are we?" Aqua asked, as Vanitas felt a wave of calm wash over him.

Aqua had healed Flood.

Vanitas did stop this time to process the thought, ducking as the Noise thrashed.

Aqua had **healed **Flood. He didn't know if she'd been the reason it got hit in the first place, but…

"What do you see?" Vanitas growled out. "The four of us are split into two parallel pocket dimensions. Any damage we take, you feel. And vice versa."

"Oh." That was Terra's voice, small and concerned.

"Five of us, then," Vanitas snarled. "Stay sharp. The creature can jump between dimensions."

"Like the Demon Tower!" Ventus cried. "The one in Haven!"

"Haven is part of this planet," Aqua reminded him, grunting. "And we're being assaulted by these black tentacles coming from nowhere."

Vanitas looked more closely. The creature was in their half of the pocket universe, but the number of limbs seemed to shift by the second.

"Its body is on this side! It can extend its arms to yours."

"Great," Aqua's voice huffed. "Any way to predict where they'll pop out would be real useful right now, boys. Flood's biting, but it can only attack one at a time and this thing's smart. It's sending two or three now."

Vanitas frowned. None of the Noise he'd fought this far were smart enough to adapt. This was closer to… to fighting a high ranking Heartless or Nobody.

Vanitas bit his thumb. "I've got an idea. But you're going to have to trust me."

"Trust you?" Aqua was practically laughing.

"Let's hear it," Terra boomed, cutting Aqua off.

"I can't tell you out loud. I think this one understands us. Now, you going to follow my lead or not?"

There was a moments silence where the only sound was the exertion of the five of them, and the scraping of Keyblade on pavement and mollusk shell.

"Let's do it," Aqua said through gritted teeth. "If I die, I'm haunting you for eternity, Vanitas."

* * *

"How you holdin' up, kiddo?" Lea let his eyes flick to the right, holding Komaeda's hand. He was guiding them through the mass while also pretending he couldn't see. It wasn't hard. All he had to think of was how it felt to traverse the bleak corridors between the worlds. Up, down, left and right had no meaning there. You just needed to trust your feet that you'd end up where you needed to go, since that's how they worked, anyway.

Roxas buzzed low, like a man possessed. His eyes even looked completely glazed over, but Lea knew he was scanning for anything unusual from the air. The only small solace was the feeling that his being bait meant Roxas wasn't. Not that he could, anyway. It was too hard to fake a non-human being a Reaper.

"My brother's nearby," Komaeda said quietly. "I know it."

"What does he look like?"

"What I did before I put on this stupid dress," Komaeda hissed back.

"Gotcha… oh. Yeah. I see him. He's… he just jumped in that Noise thing I saw Kairi do last night."

"**Noise**?" Komaeda cried out, quietly. "Coco will kill him. Dead for real. He can't fight alone. Someone has to partner with him. All he could do by himself is bide time. Steer me there."

"I'm not-"

"Lea, if you don't, he is **dead**. **Forever**." Komaeda's voice cracked. "Noise has to be fought from two dimensions together."

"I'll go."

"You're bait."

"I-"

"**No**." Komaeda was firm, and Lea saw a determination in their eyes. One that reminded him so, so much of Roxas.

Lea sighed and listed left, pushing sideways against the sea of people.

"Right in front of you, kid. Do **not **die."

"I won't."

And Komaeda stepped forward until the world cleared in their vision.

* * *

"Your plan is for us to get **thrashed**?" Aqua asked in disbelief at the air. After all, that's all that was really happening. Vanitas's little Flood was biting at the tentacle most poised to actually do damage whenever a few of them popped into existence, but still. Aqua was too small in her elven form to really dodge the way she wanted, and Terra kept tripping over his tail. They still had their magic, at least, and Terra's demon skin was so tough he didn't seem phased by any of the direct blows to his torso.

"I… need… more… time…" complained Vanitas from the ether.

Why was Aqua even trusting him, anyway?

Suddenly, something that both was and wasn't pain seared from her hip, where she kept her Wayfinder.

It was glowing bluish white, and burned to the touch, when she opened the pouch.

Terra yelped, and she knew the same was happening to him.

On the other side, Vanitas grinned as the white pin attached to his waistcoat began to fill in, though a bit different than the way it looked the night before with Sora.

A blue wayfinder- Vanitas laughed that Aqua's color filled in first- then orange, then green.

And finally, red. The pin almost burned under his touch as he tapped it, sending time to a standstill.

The ground beneath them became a patchwork of wayfinders in their colors. Vanitas stepped forward on a green one, and the whole piece of the ground gave way to nothingness.

Great. He jumped back on a blue, then another green, and both disappeared. Thank goodness he could fly, or this would be a disaster. He landed on a blue, and it held. Maybe…

He snorted out his nose and hopped to an orange. It held, and both parts of the floor began to glow brightly.

"There's an order!" Vanitas shouted triumphantly. "Blue, orange, green, red. If you do it right they glow. Screw up and the floor goes buh-bye."

"Great," Aqua hissed. "Im too short for- ack! Terra, put me down!"

"You can't even take a meter wide step, just hang on," Terra insisted.

Ventus started cracking up, bawling with laughter. Vanitas kept jumping, feeling his magic well up within him waiting for the breaking point to let time flow again as their attack exploded out. He still smirked at the thought of Aqua being carried like an angry blue sack of potatoes though.

"Oh come on!" Aqua complained. "Even this stupid Unversed can jump between these tiles."

"Do you want to win or do you want to be right?" Terra reminded her.

"….nghhh." Aqua stayed silent as Terra danced around the ever-brightening floor below them.

"On my count, jump hard on your next tile," Vanitas demanded. "One. Two. NOW!"

Ventus, Vanitas, Terra, and Flood screamed as they slammed down on their next tiles. The light, too strong to withstand, blinded them all as the wayfinders peeled off the floor and began converging on the Noise.

Time restarted, and the creature howled in pain one last time.

"Okay. Fine," Aqua huffed as the pocket dimension collapsed and Vanitas was deposited back in the mass of moving zombies.

Flood snapped back to Vanitas's shadow before lunging out of it to perch on his shoulder as he kept pressing northbound.

"I win."

* * *

"Ichi? Ichi it's me. Your twin."

Komaeda felt the silence ripple over them like a crashing wave. Their brother couldn't be gone; the Noise would have dissipated. It was likely he was unconscious though. And Komaeda couldn't reach him. Not unless there was another person who could stay on the side of the dimension they were occupying.

Komaeda pulled on the hem of the ridiculously poofy dress and shook their shoulders. Their wig had enough Bobby pins to put an entire army of Noise's eyes out, and the thing stayed firmly in place.

"Ichi."

"S-someone t-t-there?"

Hurriedly, Komaeda grabbed a cure potion from their pouch and downed it. They were together on the Noise plane. Even if they hadn't made an explicit pact, they were together. This should work.

It had to work.

"Ko?"

Komaeda let out a breath. Their twin's voice wasn't shaking anymore.

"On your feet, dipshit?" Komaeda asked him, a hint of sarcasm in their voice.

"Oh, it's on, asswipe," Ichimaru replied, cocky in a way that let them know he was just fine.

Komaeda heard their twin crack his knuckles. "Try and keep up," they both shouted at each other, and laughed.

With a feral scream that both would later swear was their own, they plunged into combat.

* * *

Coco sat atop Square Enix's Shinjuku headquarters, head tilted back in a laugh.

"Love a good joke as much as the next guy, but what's so funny, sugar?"

Coco bit down on the goo-coated stick that was the remnant of a lollipop, before hurling it down to the mass below, aiming for someone in gothic Lolita attire. The reaper fireballed it out of midair, and she pouted.

"They're fish in a barrel like this," she said, joyfully. "Except sharks are fish too. I should defang a few of 'em. Wait… did they… fairies."

The Master of Masters peered over the edge as he followed Coco's thrust finger, pointing at a creature ambling among the humans in blistering red skin.

"I think you 'n I have very different opinions on what a fairy is, kiddo."

"'s a Goblin. And I could've sworn I saw some sprites flying earlier," Coco pouted. "So either the Underground People are in cahoots or that idiot angel somehow managed to kidnap some fairies." One of the Noise symbols rippled and ruptured, and four people- well, one person and three decidedly non-human entities were thrust back into the mass.

"Butts. See? Fairies. An elf, a sprite, and a demon. And that idiot Reaper kid with the emo look."

The Master of Masters crossed his arms. "That's an Unversed on the kid's head," he grumbled. "What's he doing helping? Kid's one of Zey-no-heart's lackeys. Should be trying to bite the other ones like an annoying chihuahua."

"Should I take him out? I'm not touching the Fair Folk with a fifty-meter pole but he's fair game to slaughter."

"Stick to the plan, Coco. I made it for a reason."

"You are no fun, you know that?"

"Excuse me, but I wrote the book on fun. Two, actually, and a comic when I got bored. I invented fun."

"You invented being boring," Coco whined. "I'll stick to the plan, sure, but I wanna torture my prey first before I actually rip something to shreds. Come on, Nighty-Night." Coco shook a heavy chain attached to a body bag wriggling on the roof behind her, grinned, and walked right off the edge of the roof, laughing hysterically all the way to ground level.

* * *

Thud.

"What was that?" Artemis demanded, adjusting his mirror-lined sunglasses.

"**That **was our van shutting down," Toshi groaned, thunking his head against the steering wheel. "Either we stay in here and ride out whatever's going on, or we hoof it. Er, no offense, centaurs."

"Foaly."

"Ienzo."

"Foaly and Ienzo. So unless you can-" Tosahi started to say, as the younger looking of the two four-legged creatures closed his eyes to concentrate, before hissing "Thundara" , pointing at the hood of the car. In a moment, the monitors blinked back to life, though the engine only stalled.

Toshi looked dumbstruck. "You can use pins outside of combat?"

"What's a pin?" Ienzo asked. "Also I've never been able to cast any Thunder spells successfully since… well. In a while. So that's a first."

"Wouldn't that be more lightning than thunder?" Artemis asked, chuffed.

"Hush it, mudboy, we don't have time for this. You wanna do that trick again, kiddo?" Foaly looked fondly at Ienzo as if he'd gained a nephew.

Ienzo focused, sparks dancing on his fingers. He felt electricity jolt through the two nubs on his head that were a poor excuse for horns, immediately followed by a searing sensation as his hair stood on end.

Foaly winced. "You okay there, Ienzo?"

"I… I can't focus!"

Artemis looked at Ienzo. "Calm. Take a deep breath. We've got our equipment online at least, that's more than we could have said a moment ago."

Ienzo breathed out, shakily. "Yes. Yes, you're right, Artemis."

"What is that?" Butler asked, pointing at a floating sigil in the sky on one of the screens.

"What's what?" Toshi unbuckled himself and squeezed into the cramped rear of the cab. "I don't see anything."

"Must be something dead then," Artemis muttered. "Here." Artemis passes their driver his set of goggles.

"Shiiiit. Noise. Big Noise."

"That's what they look like?" Ienzo asked, peering at the screen, having seen one of the symbols the night prior on the walk over to the Underground.

"Well, more like… that's a portal to the dimension they live in. You get too close and it pulls you in."

Ienzo frowned. "Question. What happens if two of these dimensions meet?"

"Makes one bigger dimension, all the Noise from both come inside to one larger mass- a whole lot of them could converge like that- more than ten at a time."

"And Coco won't kill someone alive…" Ienzo said aloud.

"You've got a plan," Artemis said matter of factly.

"A third, maybe."

"Let's hear it, then."

* * *

Toshi groaned, pulling himself up the side of the news van. Streams of people pushed around him, only barely parting around the vehicle. "Cor, those Reapers said they had a good reason for doing this, but.." he muttered, annoyed as he heaved and pulled himself up to the satellite dish on top. "Just doing repairs, me, that's all this a live, non-zombified human, still in Shinjuku, doing repairs to their news van. The only news van in the entire blasted ward that has anything functioning at all… If I die again I am **so**haunting you lot."

One Noise symbol, then another, and then a third floated away from the mass and straight towards the van. Toshi pretended to ignore them and work on repairing his antenna, as the mass of Noise Coco had created was slowly drawn to the van. Two symbols bumped into each other, merging into a larger, angrier one.

Soon, every Noise was slowly floating towards the van.

Inside, Ienzo tapped on the metal of the cab below him with a hoof, in concentration, as he cycled through every spell he knew- both in practice, and only in theory and memory as Zexion.

He didn't need to cast them, just draw out his innate magic like a homing beacon, making the van his bait.

A van, that, for all intents and purposes, only had one annoyed human newscaster in it, seemingly oblivious to the supernatural and fixing his vehicle out there in the open.

"Hiya."

Toshi screamed, and fell on his butt, almost on top of a piece of the satellite dish he'd taken apart. A young girl in sweet Lolita and pastel high-top sneakers cocked her head and looked at him. He lifted up his goggles. "Y-you're not one of the zombies, kid? You wanna hide in my truck 'till this blows over?"

"You gonna offer me free candy next? Yuck, no thanks," Coco snarled, sizing up the man as the Noise converged near the truck. Making more was going to be a massive waste of energy, energy she was running short on as her human battery was actually showing signs of fatigue. Unlimited, her ass.

"I… what? No, kid, I'm a reporter for the NHK, I saw this," he said, sweeping his hand as the last trickle of the mass of people kept moving northward, "and you think I'm not gonna follow?"

Coco eyed him. He wasn't wearing a pin, and he had no trace of magical influence. She grinned, and peeked her third eye into his mind.

'If I don't get this dish fixed soon, HQ is gonna kill me. I'm the only one on this story,' his mind whined.

It helped he'd been dead once, and knew Reapers could read minds, so he let the very human worry be at the forefront. It didn't hurt that he really didn't know what Joshua was doing, so if Coco did manage to get past his base thoughts of getting his feed back online she wouldn't get much more than abject confusion.

"You wanna hide in the truck or what?" he offered again. "I'd really rather you not step all over my shit. It's unlocked, just shut it behind you so the- can't believe I'm saying this- the zombies don't get in."

The single, massive Noise- comprised of all of Coco and the Master's hard work- continued to languidly float towards the truck.

Coco hissed under her breath, jumped off the side, and flung open the back of the cab.

Two Westerners in suits shrieked as she did so, a giant of a man, and a tiny kid who looked roughly her presumed age.

There was no-one else in the truck. No angels, no Reapers, no Players, and certainly no angelic jerry-rigged contraptions drawing the Noise towards the van. Just two scared tourists clinging to each other. Probably a father and son. Coco screamed, and slammed the cab doors shut.

Ienzo was never more glad to be out of the last drops of his magic in his life. Foaly gripped him tightly under the cam-foil that was keeping them cloaked and smirked. "Angels and Reapers can sense magic. Be glad us centaurs don't have a lick of the stuff, hm? Unless you consider my amazing brain and my inventions magic."

"Hush, Foaly," Artemis hissed, completely collected and unfazed now that the girl had shut the rear doors. "She might come back."

But Coco had other things on her mind. Namely, that the gargantuan Noise was meters from swallowing the oblivious human on the news van whole. He was definitely a human, as were the two in the truck. There was no Angelic or Reaper influence, just an idiot mortal and his idiot life-risking job.

Emphasis on the life risking. Double emphasis on the idiot.

With a sigh and a wave of her hand, Coco sent a shudder through the remaining pocket Noise dimension, hardly half a meter from the mortal before it swallowed him whole. She didn't need to alert Upstairs. She had a nice, cushy position. Murdering Players was encouraged, Reapers were collateral damage.

But the living? Touch one of **those **and a Throne or a Power would be on her ass in seconds.

She'd have a word with her Producer soon enough. With a flap, she shot back up to the roof where he awaited her.

* * *

Butler pounded on the roof of the vehicle, and Toshi quickly snapped the not-broken dish back into place, sliding off the roof and back into the cab.

"It worked?" he asked as he flung his pair of goggles back to Artemis, who smudged them on his Armani sport coat before pulling them back on over his mirrored sunglasses. Toshi wanted to tell the kid he looked like an actual prat, goggles over sunglasses, indoors, but if the goggles were designed to see the world of the Underground, the kid's sunglasses probably served a practical function, too.

"Mhmmm," Ienzo said, peeling off the cam-foil. "It was a hunch, but I eas right. When my magic ran out, Foaly and I weren't detected by her. And she's a reaper. I think that was Coco, actually. Matched the picture Joshua showed us yesterday, I think."

"You…**what**." Foaly's voice was flat. "She's the sociopath we're after! You're nuts, kid!"

Artemis just laughed. "You're crazy, Ienzo, you know that, right?"

"Nah, that's my dad," Ienzo said with a shrug.

"If that's sane compared to him," Artemis said, brow raised, "I'd really enjoy picking his brain sometime."

* * *

"You cheat." It wasn't a question, it was an accusation. Coco pointed a tiny finger at the Master up on the roof of the Square Enix building, hand on a hip. Below them, the red haze was beginning to fade. Coco's borrowed powers were fading. She still had her own, of course, but it was nothing like the unlimited drip from the teen in the body bag. Coco stomped over to it, and pressed, before unzipping it partway. The teen inside, ash-black hair and rumpled open hoodie, was at death's door. Using him any more, at least for now, would result in killing him. And again, Coco didn't want to be snatched away by the Powers that Be. She was enjoying her queendom too much to give it up so willingly.

"Not a cheat," he said, with an exaggerated show of his arms. "Just enjoying watching the show."

"Then **hide me**," she hissed. "At least for a half hour until I can recharge."

"Baaaaah, where's the fun in that?"

"Me not being pulverized to dust is pretty fun, just saying."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," he muttered. "I'll make a distraction. But only because I like you, ya hear? You've got fifteen minutes before your big entrance or I move on to the finale. With or without you." He tossed her a can, leapt up to the ledge to look at the masses below him, and walked right off.


	40. the part where blank dies at the end

_**TW: body horror**_  
_**this trigger warning is in effect for the remainder of the fic, as angels here start getting in a real biblical sense. i've hinted at it earlier, with some of their true forms bleeding through, but expect this for the rest of the story as angels start getting all final-boss in here**_

_**there is an additional TW for this chapter though.**_  
_**major character death.**_

_**i hope thats kind of expected at this point but still**_  
_**figured one more warning wouldn't hurt.**_

* * *

"Heeeeeeello Tokyo! Great day for some zombies, ain't it?" The Master of Masters pitched a laugh as he descended, landing on the roof of a truck outside the Square Enix building, looking down on the mass of oblivious people. He was a man with an agenda, all right, though what it really was… well. It's a mystery to everyone. It always seems to be.

He pointed a hand, outstretched. "Mary Poppins! Long time no see. And I mean a veeeeery long time. How are you not dead?"

Mary grit her teeth. If this man knew who she was, and just how old, **well**.

She wasn't giving him any more fuel for his fire.

"Sod off," she spat.

"Ohhhh, listen to that accent!" the man in black said sweetly, spinning on a pirouette and faking a swoon. "Like music to my ears. What's that then, Industrial London?"

"You leave. **Now**," Myde screamed, drawing his Keyblade from the aether.

"Now, now, now. Doesn't **that **look a bit familiar. You're from one of the old noble houses. Too bad you were lazy, huh? Or did that laziness save you in the end? Or was it… I dunno… cowardice?"

The man snapped his fingers, and his shadow shook angrily. Creatures, not quite Noise, not quite Heartless, and just a smidge Unversed if Vanitas had his say, began to rise from the concrete. The Not-Quites started to writhe and jerk their way towards the mass of possessed human wall in a slow but deliberate crawl on too-long arms and too-short legs.

"My Conductor won't kill a living person, not in a million years. But hey... I**'m not her**."

"You wouldn't!" Mary shouted, concerned. "You **can't**!"

"Oh I **won't**," the man said with a shrug. "But I'm not **them**." He swept his hands toward the hoard at his feet, and with a flourish and a puff of smoke, vanished.

Myde looked up to Mary. "May I have thissss dancccce?"

Mary smiled gently, bent down, and kissed her little goblin on the forehead, hissing into his ear. "It would be my pleasssssure."

* * *

"Oh ye, ye hear the tale of my beloved?

For she sailed the sea above'd

And when she captain'd ship and and worked,

She made the sky her one true love'd!"

Mary and Myde grinned, spinning and sing-shouting while strumming their Keyblades, having never quite forgotten the ancient sky pirate reel. They circled around the mass of Not-Quites, shepherding them away from the zombified humans. Joshua and Gabriel must have gotten the hint, from the din of the two musical Keyblade wielders' unusual fighting, and the mass of people began to disperse away from the spot on their own.

Myde strummed a power chord, much like he'd done on his Nobody weapon, shooting a powerful pressurized jet of water straight at a pile of the blackish purple creatures. About half a dozen bowled over from the pressure, flattening to ooze. Quickly, they regenerated into a larger, singular mass, charging again. Mary nodded to her husband, flicking her wrist. Her keyblade shot not water, but a harsh stream of fire.

An unholy scream erupted from the mass. It sounded almost human, and Mary jumped back a little.

"I can't fight these!" she cried. "I think they're people! Or **were**."

Gabriel swooped over. She mantled her wings high on her back and glared after Mary. "You're a solider."

"I fought **Heartless**. Killing them only brought the people killed by them back to life."

Gabriel frowned. "Touché. Then I ask you to get the hell away, because I don't know if it's a trick or these are real souls, and I don't have the time to find out. And these creatures seem weak to flame."

"But!"

"Butts are for **sitting**," Gabriel said with a grin. "Stay with the crowd. It's time I flexed my own magic."

She fanned out her wings, setting them aflame with a thought. Her dress alighted into a black inferno, and, one by one, whitish-blue eyes blinked open over her entire blazing form, which was peeling away in flame to be nothing more than a tiny red-outlined rat among a mass of six burning graffiti wings.

Her voice came from her entire body, reverberating like a cracked whisper.

**Go to Hell.**

* * *

Coco rattled at the chains surrounding the oversized, beaten up canvas bag, drinking in every drop of power as the teenager inside it tried to recharge subconsciously. She'd have none of that, thank you, at least not until she herself had drunk her fill.

Coco rolled her eyes. "Have to do, I suppose. The first thing I'm supposed to do is…" she babbled to herself, looking down at the tableau below her from her perch, "take out Riku. He shouldn't exist. A Keyblade wielder who's never once been a Nobody but can use the darkness?"

She hocked up a ball of spittle and pitched it down to the crowd below. "I don't understand half of what comes out of that stupid codger's mouth but I'll be damned to Hell before I pass up the opportunity to have some no-questions-asked fun. Isn't that right, '**Mister Battery'**?"

Breathing in one last bit of energy, Coco leapt down with a grin.

* * *

"Hihi!"

"Coco!" Sora shouted. "This ends now!"

"Yeah, was kinda thinking the same thing," Coco said brightly. "Gimmie back what's mine."

Without thought, Sora flicked his fingers, calling forth his keyblade, holding it crosswise to guard Riku. Kairi nodded, doing the same, her ornate flower guard over Sora's.

"**Go**," Kairi demanded. "Take Riku. I'll take her on."

"Ohh, how sweet, your little Reaper girlfriend is trying to take the hit for you. Too bad I don't care about you yet. Riku goes down first, then I can take my time ripping every last strand of magic from you. Tell me, Riku, do you know what I took from you, you know, when you entered my Game?"

"I was someone else's fee," Riku said through grit teeth as the trio circled on the pavement to protect Riku and keep Coco in their sights. Kairi was slightly in front, ready to take the hit if necessary. She knew Uriel would keep her word about the Game to come if she did die. But Sora and Riku would have no such third chance.

"But why did you end up **here**?" Coco said sweetly. "You **did** have a fee, Riku. It was your friends. That you couldn't be with them. And yet, here you are with all your little dead friends, oh no, that won't do. Your supposed to be my plaything. MINE."

Riku felt it before he saw it. It was harsh, all points and record scratches and the air felt like swallowing broken glass.

**Coco.**

It wasn't so much a voice as it was a feeling, but the trio knew immediately who it was.

Uriel was cold and white, and jittered as she stepped forward on four skeletal graffiti hooves. Her horse head pointed downwards with a painted, but still likely horribly sharp to Reapers, spiraled unicorn horn.

**I don't want to kill you, Coco. But you give me no choice**.

"Oh, now you're invested. After everyone I've shredded? How does it feel to have all that blood on your manicured little hands? **Hypocrite**."

**It's not on my hands.**

"Oh what, because you don't have hands? Hah. You're a riot. At least **I'm **consistent."

**They're not on my hands because you haven't killed anyone, Coco.**

"Well yeah duh. They're already dead. Just puttin' these stupid little things to rest. If they can't survive my hell, it's not my problem, is it? That's certainly what you stupid angels use to justify yoursleves."

**Look, I can't even with you.**

**...Die. **

Sora wasn't sure, but a wave of sadness washed over him. Uriel's sadness. Despite being a bit of a self-righteous jerk, she **did **care.

With an unholy shriek, she charged.

* * *

Time seemed to stand still. Anyone who knew Uriel's specialty would be quick to assume it was her doing. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Uriel screamed so primordially it shattered the pavement below her, and time itself seemed to jitter.

A man in a black coat- THE man in a black cloak- stood between Uriel and her target, her undulating living graffiti horn held firm between his pointer and middle fingers like it wasn't the bare firmament of an angel, but a piece of children's sidewalk chalk.

"Not the first Unicorn I've had to put in their place, but… what can you do?" he said, a smile to his voice as he twisted his fingers. Starting from the horn and spreading outwards, the loose, looping, flowing white lines of graffiti that comprised Uriel began to stiffen, then crack, sliding away in wisps from her form.

"NOOOOOOO!" Sora screamed, falling to his knees.

"Oh, come off it," the man said shrugging. "This is her domain, she'll pop right back like the world's most annoying zit. It's like those guys in the game world- die in your own game and 'blip!' five seconds later, back to hunky dory Bob's your uncle."

Coco just put her hands on her hips. "Can you quit it with the old-people talk already? You're ruining the moment."

"I mean, I can! Absolutely could. But I won't."

Coco made a high pitched whine and threw her hands up. "Look, there has to be someone I can murder, right?"

"Not the ones with the swords, Coco," the black-clad man said, suddenly snapped to perfect near-monotone seriousness. "They're not real Reapers. It's just a cloak of glamor… or the World's heart doing it. Leave them be."

"Heart this, heart that, I've been hearing nothing but Hearts and Light and other weird cryptic BS from you for weeks now! Just tell me whose arm I can twist until it snaps! I'm sick of being told to kill then not kill people! **Just! Make! Up! Your! Damn**-"

"Lay off them!" boomed a voice over the din.

A fire raced across the pavement, and Isa and Lea stepped through. Lea's eyes were crackling with energy as he raised an open palm again.

The black hooded man walked up to them.

"Keyblade masters?" he asked sweetly.

Both looked confused, and, as if to demonstrate his point like Riku had done a few nights earlier for Tomo, the man lunged for Lea. The redhead blocked the blow with the first thing that came to reflex, which, given his years of combat training without a key, let alone a sword weapon of any type, led him to instinctively cross his arms and put up a defensive wall of black-hot fire.

The man seemed pleased.

"Kill this one, he's a real Reaper." And with whatever machanations he had in his head satisfied, the man simply walked away. Kairi pressed backwards on Sora and Riku, glaring at them not to follow.

Lea was going to be their ticket.

And if one looked closely- very closely, far better than I ever actually could- one might have seen the faintest hint of a smile on the redhead's face as he drew his fists, covered in flame.

* * *

Coco practically giggled as she threw up a barrier around them.

"Yay! Super fun times now!" she cried gleefully. "Hey, before I kill you, what's your art?"

Lea looked down and away. It was an odd question to ask before murdering someone, before remembering the practice rooms from the night before. His art. The creativity the reapers and angels all did to hone their skills.

"…I cook," he answered honestly. "Or I'm trying to. Most of the time it just blows up in my face."

"Ohhhhhh?" A black spray-paint line whipped from nowhere lifting Lea up by the neck. "Tell me to my face. I don't think you do anything at all."

"You… you steal other people's creativity, suck it all up like it's some kind of… well, like **food**," Lea said, realization dawning as he could feel her start to poke around near his mind. Enough years of Xehanort doing that and he'd gotten extremely good at mental deflection. "I doubt you have a creative bone in your body you didn't take from someone else." He grinned, despite the ever-increasing strain on his neck and shoulders.

She threw him with the black not-tentacle, and he crashed into the wall of the barrier, bouncing a few times on the pavement, woozily. When he looked up, he saw double… and Coco's arms aflame, from the elbow down, just like his had been.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" she screamed, bounding towards him to bash him repeatedly.

Lea was prepared to die, given the proposed outcome. He just wished the ~ying part of it all would hurry up a bit.

It **hurt**.

Not just his body either, Somewhere, in the back of his mind, all he could think was how bad her fisticuffs form really was. She had no business punching like that; if she were alive she'd have already broken her hands. Maybe they were broken already and she was fighting through it in some idiot-headed superiority.

She'd moved on from fists to claws with her black-ribbon graffiti, and Lea howled in pain as she started drawing actual blood.

And then, as quick as she'd started, she froze.

She'd torn open the inside of Lea's jacket, covered in Joshua's blood and stuffed with his feathers and she howled.

"No.**NononononononoNO**!" she cried as she punted Lea against the barrier, hard enough that it shattered. "You're a fake too! You're a trap, alive, aren't you?! No way in Hell am I going to finish that job."

"You won't kill the living?" Isa cried, as he bounded over to Lea, pressing hands for what little magic he'd managed to relearn, a soothing spell to at least stop Lea's misery.

"Of course I won't, you absolute moron! I hate your stupid human wall. Once I heard about it, I set up that restriction so I could pick you off like… like something easy, that's what, you idiot! And then you- YOU!- have the audacity to solicit help from **LIVING PEOPLE**?" she waggled her finger at Joshua. "I'd rip off your wings if you'd stand still a minute! Who gets help from licing people? Who asks for help from **ANYONE**?"

"So **I'm **the hypocrite then?" Gabriel asked, landing neatly at the front of the circle of humans that was slowly closing in around Coco. The black clad man who seemed to have done something to instigate it all just sat on a parking divider, watching the show and letting the tiny Reaper girl take every bit of the heat she so judiciously deserved. "It's only okay when you break the rules?"

Coco huffed. "I haven't broken any rules."

From the back of the crowd, Neku huffed a small snort.

"Not yet, you haven't."

* * *

"**Vanitas**," Neku hissed. "I'm pushing us to the front of this mess."

"You don't have to ask **my **permission," Vanitas replied dryly.

"I kinda do, you can't see."

Vanitas turned red. "Er… the haze faded like fifteen minutes ago. When the last of the Noise disappeared."

"Then why are you still holding me like your life depended on it?"

Vanitas didn't really have an answer to that.

"**Forget it**," Neku huffed. "And I don't mean that as a negative. You'd be in danger if Coco cornered you. I wouldn't be."

Neku carefully peeled his hand off Vanitas's arm and stormed forward, pushing the mindless people away until he broke through to the front.

"That's all this is about isn't it?" he growled low in the circle surrounding Coco. "You're a bored teenager, and this is what you do for fun. You're a Reaper, for fuck's sake. Don't you do some kind of art? And I don't mean tracing other people's work and slapping your own signature on it."

"Kid, don't!" Lea croaked, Isa putting hands on him to heal, knowing that Coco didn't have a mind to actually kill him, just toy with him.

"She can't hurt me, and she knows that," Neku hissed. "You just want a punching bag. I can't be harmed by the Reapers. So, go on. Blow off some steam then."

"Fuck you and fuck off!" Coco cried, furious, slapping Neku in the face. Or, at least, she attempted to. Her hand merely bounced away.

"I know you," Neku said, staring her straight in the eyes as she drew into a fury. "I was you. Joshua was you. Angry, feeling powerless…"

"I AM NOT POWERLESS."

"Despite having clear artistic talent, not using it for some reason… I mean, you had to have **something**, or you wouldn't have become a Player in the first place. What changed, Coco?"

"I'M A GOOD FASHION DESIGNER," she whined, continuing to swat at the air around Neku's head as he stood in place, eyes fixed on her.

"I'm sure of it," Neku said, voice even and calm as her thrashing grew more pronounced. "But you'll be a great one if you stop letting your district go to shit."

Coco's arms fell to her sides. For almost a second, Neku thought he might have put a dent in her mental armor. He'd faced worse before, and walked away unscathed.

"SHUT UP AND DIE," Coco wailed.

Neku sighed. He knew. He knew since he took stock of the situation. Coco was like Joshua had been, how **he ****himself **had been- the feeling of ennui seeing into his pores despite having a hobby he loved and was good at. Gabriel had handicrafts, Uriel had makeup. Joshua sang, Neku tagged and sketched, and **still**. And still there were days, weeks, possibly for the angels even months and years when their creative juices simply wouldn't flow. When they drifted.

Lost, purposeless. Especially if they had no support from family or peers- like Neku had before receiving that not-really mysterious scholarship for art school.

**Useless**.

Sometimes all it made you want to do was rage. Pour your cosmetics down the toilet, rip out seams, take a can of red paint and spray giant X's over everyone's work, not just your own…

Destroy. Destroy everything around you until it was as bereft as you were. It was so easy, to just let yourself slip. It felt **good **to be hated when you couldn't be loved.

"Is that what you want, Coco?" Neku asked quietly.

"DIE IN A FIRE, YOU… DISGUSTING… **BOY**!" Coco cried out, raising both fists, covered in a sphere of stolen pyrokinetic energy each.

Neku mumbled something quietly under his breath just before she struck down on him.

"Well…

you have my

…permission."

* * *

Time seemed to freeze as Neku's charred corpse thudded to the pavement.

Maybe… just maybe… it's because I willed it so.

Coco stared at her own hands as the sea of a human wall parted. Ienzo had felt a shudder, like the world had been tipped slightly off its axis, and led the crew in the van towards where the mass of bodies converged. Uriel began to pool back, first as a spray-painted drawing on the pavement under Komaeda's feet, before pulling her back and out into humanish-looking three dimensions.

Joshua was leaking gold at his seams, sharp angular graffiti threatening to split his human form apart like a hot butter knife through cream.

"You didn't just kill **a living human, Coco**, he said, going from using words to mere thoughts mid-sentence.

**You killed a human who has won the Game three times, and can never play again.**

**And worst of all, this single, insignificant human, more so than any supernatural bastard in the entire universe, was my best friend.**

**If you won't suffer the wrath of God, Coco…**

**you'll**

**suffer**

**mine.**


End file.
